The Statute will not be sufficient (2)
Jordi Pujol
Editorial / February 08, 2006
Some months ago I wrote an article with the same title for Avui. I said that assuming the Statute was approved (which was uncertain at that time) and that is was positive, exactly as it was approved in the Catalan Parliament on September 30 2005, it would be insufficient to give Catalonia a strong and effective momentum.
I believe that what I said then is even more accurate now.
We
recognise that the new Statute will be better than the current one. And
is everything goes according to plan that is how it will be. But one
thing that is certain is that we will not be given the degree of
political and administrative powers that we are lacking. We will always
have to go that extra mile in terms of initiative, effort, competence
and ambition. We are already aware of this, and have done so many times
in the past. However, this time the situation is different.
Catalonia is currently in a state of confusion. Its image has been tarnished, both inside and outside the country. It has been wounded. And its relationship with the rest of Spain is at an all-time low. There also appears to be a lack of ambition within the country. Our notion of what our society should be is unclear. In certain aspects a state of extreme frivolity appears to have set in. As Enric Juliana remarked a few days ago in one of his commentaries, there appears to be a widespread atmosphere of despair and nostalgia. All this despite Catalonia’s healthy economy and strong consumption.
These considerations do not refer to politics, which is not this website’s brief
Is this really true? What I have just said appears to be shared by many people, however not everyone. It would be irresponsible and smug to reject out of hand that the mood is not conducive to respond to the challenges ahead of us. The challenges of competitiveness, adapting to new technology, immigration, cohabitation and cohesion, social progress, etc. And it would be also irresponsible to ignore that in addition to good technicians and good businessmen, a good workforce, and good universities, etc., a country needs an overriding strength of mind and a positive outlook. It needs a constructive spirit, a strong sense of the common good, a sense of hope. Its citizens must have self-esteem and self-confidence. No county can move forward without this. There can be no progress with malice and envy. There can be no progress with a crisis of interests. We must reign in the “no” culture.
In this context Catalonia is not going well at present. And if we do not overcome this obstacle, irrespective of whether we obtain the Statue we want or the one closest to our needs, we have no possibility of advancing.
We must be fully aware that if there are many things that are not proceeding as we would wish, projects that do not appear to get off the ground, positions that are lost, it is often not for a lack of a better or worse Statute, or due to insufficient financing, but to us ourselves. Here are four of what unfortunately could be four hundred examples of this:
- If
we do not build the fourth Vallès ring road it is not for lack of money
(the State Budget has more than once earmarked sufficient funds for
this end) or for the Ministry’s lack of will, but because of opposition
by a number of Town Councils, radical opposition of ecologist groups,
and now the internal dispute within the government of the Generalitat.
None of this has any connection whatsoever with the Statute.
- If
in a town in Vallès two important companies decide not to set up
factories that will provide good jobs to hundreds of people, it is
owing to the Council’s political and environmental opposition. These
factories may end up in Aragon, for example, or who knows where. In
times of delocalisation this is serious. And it won’t be the fault of
the Statute.
- If
the foreigners in living in Catalonia who go to such lengths to learn
Catalan find that when they try to speak almost everyone responds in
Spanish and does not value or appreciate their efforts – and often
makes them give up -, this has nothing to do with the Statute.
- If
years have been wasted in not reaching agreements by governments,
ecologists, housing associations, political parties, etc., concerning
the future of Barcelona airport – which is the cornerstone of our
competitiveness – this cannot be put down to the Statute, it is our own
fault.
When it comes down to it, it is more an obstructionist mentality, blinded to the general interest, focused on complaint and protest. If we do not overcome this mentality the Statute will not be sufficient.
