The limits of virtual politics were visible on Saturday in Argelers, where Junts held the first part of its congress, which has made official the move to the side of Carles Puigdemont, who is leaving the presidency, but will continue – no one doubts it – as a referential leader of this space. Virtual politics, embodied in the baroque style of Laura Borràs, collided with evidence: the party, for those who work for it.
One thing is the effervescent enthusiasm of social networks and another is the complexity of managing loyalties in a political project. The president of the Parlament and some candidates for organic positions of her string received a severe notice in the voting: Borràs was third (she did not expect it), and the councilor of Badalona who proposed for the secretary of organization did not get enough votes to join in the executive, although it could end up entering if those concerned agree to break the established rules. Jordi Turull, incarnation of the convergent school adapted to the procés, exhibited muscles and sent a very important signal: in this new tandem, the former minister and former political prisoner is the one who knows how the vehicle works. The bases detected that you could not play with things to eat. Consistent with this, one of the most voted was Minister Giró.
A veteran voice from the house summed up for me what had happened on Saturday in the emblematic North Catalan town: “The militancy has made it clear that we want to have a game that counts and not a fan club.” Neither a fan club, nor a movement, nor a platform, nor anything original: a party like the usual ones, with a will to power. And Turull, the new general secretary, knows a lot about partying. He learned it in the former Pujol and Artur Mas Convergència, he also lived it from within the regional administration, from a very young age, and observing how effective leaders such as Felip Puig worked hard on each militant and each local section. On the other hand, the new president of Junts is very funny doing tweets and selfies, but she knows nothing about the functioning of a political apparatus.
When Turull resigned from a confrontational congress, we pointed out that he had accepted many demands from Borràs because he was afraid that the same thing that Damià Calvet experienced would happen to him when he competed against “the daughter of October 1” in the primaries. He overestimated the power of his rival. Has Borràs lost part of the magic that made her the muse of hyperventilation? His procedural situation for the matter of contracts at the Institució de les Lletres Catalanes may have taken its toll on him, and also his role in the Juvillà case, where it became clear that one thing is to preach disobedience and another is to play the kind of TRUE.
Is the danger of anti-politics completely averted in Junts? We will see when the militancy votes whether or not to maintain the Government’s agreement with ERC. Imitating the CUP has its risks, Turull knows.
