All the presidents of the government up to Rodríguez Zapatero had an ambition: that ETA terrorism would end during their term. To this end, they carried out secret and risky activities, such as negotiating with the gang. Once that objective has been achieved, the aspiration of all – that is, of Mariano Rajoy and Pedro Sánchez – has been to solve the so-called “Catalan problem”. Rajoy had it impossible because, as Félix Bolaños reminds him every day, during his term everything happened: the loss of fear of the word independence, the illegal referendums, the events of 2017 and the application of 155.
Pedro Sánchez came to power supported by the nationalists and the independentistas, governed with them, decreed pardons, opened dialogue and cherished the dream of being the peacemaker. The annulment of the crime of sedition is his magical instrument and that is why he promotes a reform of the Penal Code that avoids the reports of the Council of State and the CGPJ and discards the leadership bodies of his own party with two serious added problems. The first is his original sin: he boasts of being the wizard of resistance, which is equivalent to saying that his merit is to resist to stay in power for a long time. And that has a price: whatever he does is interpreted in that key. The memory of his previous words about sedition, rebellion or considering the unilateral calling of a referendum a crime only confirms this key: with recognized audacity, Sánchez can resolve the conflict, we’ll see, but he ensures support for a long stay in Moncloa.
The second is more disturbing: his initiative to destroy sedition was presented as “a personal commitment.” An action of this scope and unforeseeable consequences, no matter how democratic its author may be, is not a party project, nor an electoral promise, nor a State decision; It is his endeavor and also faced by an urgent procedure that is only justified by the demands or needs of Esquerra. His will be, therefore, the glory or the historical responsibility. And free is the judgment that can be made about his personalism, so close in that sense to autocratic behavior. That would be a line of attack that Spanishism has not yet used.
This writer cannot know if it is good or bad to erase that crime from the Penal Code. These actions are magnificent or perverse depending on their result, and that remains to be seen. If it serves to stop accusing the State of repression in Catalonia, it would already be a success in the historic task of strengthening coexistence. If it serves to spread the idea that the State is defenseless against any attempt to break national unity, as the PP and many opinion leaders say, a wave of pessimism will be inevitable in the rest of the country.
Given this, it is necessary to note that at least five ways ostentatiously failed:
And a final thought: if eliminating sedition is as positive as the Government says, it is not understood how it is not explained to Feijoo and he is attracted to the cause. And quoted Mr. Feijoo, I allow myself to recommend that you not announce the repeal of what is now approved. Once given that candy to the independence movement, taking it away would be to encourage it to consider the Spanish State repressive again. In any case, the path that Sánchez opens has no return and opens other debates: that the embezzlement soften, the corrupt pray; that 155 disappear, asks Urkullu; amnesty and referendum, claims Aragonès. It begins by annulling a crime and the territorial debate is reopened. Let it be for the best.
