27/10: Would Forcadell resign in France?

When it emerged that the Speaker of the Catalan Parliament had been indicted, the PP and Ciudadanos immediately called for her resignation. No surprise there. However, in an attempt to encourage her to step down, Ciudadanos leader Inés Arrimadas asked Carme Forcadell what she thought would happen in similar circumstances in France or Germany. Very well then, let’s think about it. But let’s think about it from the beginning.

I am convinced that in France, to choose the most politically centralised example, things would never have got to this point. If the French government were faced with a democratically expressed request from so many citizens in a particular territory, with a parliamentary majority and the support of its institutions and society as a whole, under no circumstances would it pretend that it did not exist, as if nothing was afoot, making no attempt to create a dialogue or reach an agreement, and instead only filing appeals and banning people from office (not to mention engaging in a dirty war).

If they really want us to ask ourselves what Carme Forcadell would have done in France, first we must consider what France would have done. You see, democracy is the law, but it is also part of a political culture. And a government with a democratic political culture would have agreed to sit down, listen and discuss the demands of so many citizens. (In the case of France, it’s likely; in Canada and Britain’s case, it’s certain.)