A possible normality
Centre d'Estudis Jordi Pujol
Article / June 27, 2006
In the coming months Catalonia will enter into a more or less successive chain of electoral processes that could continue until mid 2008. Let’s hope that these forthcoming electoral contests do not interfere in the normal running of the country’s institutions. In free and advanced societies, the democratic consolidation becomes an inalterable value only when the country is able to rise above the occasional political conflict and the rivalries that this generates.
This country is currently experiencing exceptional moments, politically important moments. On June 18 Catalans went to the polls to endorse the Statute of Autonomy. The culmination of a process that had been the focal point of Catalan political life for two years, it closed a cycle that, as was already announced, would pave the way for another: the calling and holding of elections for the first government of the new Statute.
The calendar will inexorably take us to the end of the year. Then, the spring will bring further elections, this time municipal elections in Catalonia and autonomic elections in many autonomous communities throughout the Spanish State. Barely a year later –assuming elections are not called in advance – there will once again be Spanish parliamentary elections. In short a continued process that, as our own tradition shows, often paralyses government decisions, delays important projects, and gives rise to great uncertainty, fears and suspicion. And if this was little, the same electoral and electioneering dynamic often creates expectations that will be difficult to implement in government programmes. The result of the latter is, very often, frustration.
In countries with long democratic traditions the governments’ room for manoeuvre is extremely well-defined, especially in the more important areas like education, employment or foreign affairs, to cite just a few examples. Logically landslide majorities do bring about changes in direction and amend aspects that have proved ineffective over time, although the basic design and all the experience that has been assimilated is conserved as a structural support. And everyone carries on with their work: the employment systems reassure the labour force, foreign policy continues to form part of the country’s tradition, and the world of education can continue to fulfil its lofty mission without waiting for the project of the next government in power. In short, it should be possible to assure normality, both in Catalonia and Spain.
