The Parliament's decision: politics vs. courts of law

On Thursday the Catalan Parliament explicitly defied Spain’s Constitutional Court (TC) by approving the conclusions of the parliamentary committee on the constituent process. It did so with the backing of the pro-independence majority in the chamber, which emerged out of the September 27th elections, in which it obtained 72 seats and 48% of the votes cast in an election with a record turnout (77.5%). It is a majority that is moving forward with the program that the people voted for at the polls. Its democratic legitimacy, therefore, is clear. Its political legitimacy is equally clear, given that the Spanish government refuses to budge and find a negotiated solution to the Catalan people's persistent desire to decide their own future at the polls.

There are enough examples in western democracies to draw inspiration from, including Scotland and Quebec. But the Spanish government's response has been a blanket refusal to face the basic problem, to employ political methods, to activate a real dialogue, and to welcome the people's opinions. It has opted for the implacable use of the judicial branch. This is why the TC has become a key player as an instrument for combatting the independence process, and now for attempting to block Catalan parliamentary action. The clash of democracy and legality stems from this abuse of the judiciary in the face of a clearly political issue. Instead of adapting law to democratic reality, they are trying to straightjacket and drown out the outcome of the votes.

This lack of political finesse has caused the independence process to start down a road that it didn't desire. Because the option most widely preferred by Catalan society, with a pro-sovereignty majority greater than the pro-independence majority, is a referendum that Madrid stubbornly refuses to consider. Yet, sooner or later, whether through negotiation or along the journey towards disconnection that has now begun, the end result will be a referendum. It is the only truly viable option. In any case, what happened last Wednesday is not a declaration of independence, but the approval by Parliament of the JxSí and CUP roadmap in accordance with their electoral platforms. The predictable reaction from the TC, which had warned of the illegality of the step taken by Parliament, will do nothing but hinder the necessary negotiated solution and increase the feeling of blockage in Catalonia. And, in doing so, it will merely strengthen the unilateral option.