The confirmation that one or more people from the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) were behind the posters that denigrated Ernest Maragall, his brother Pasqual Maragall and the Alzheimer's disease from which Pasqual suffers has caused a wave of indignation that goes well beyond the response that has so far been offered from the party. It is normal that this is the case for several reasons: firstly, because it is completely inconceivable that in the heat of an election campaign a political organization decides that the best way to raise its head in a campaign in which it is playing a secondary role - remembering that the May 2023 municipal election in Barcelona was dominated by Xavier Trias, Ada Colau and Jaume Collboni - is to use a disease like Alzheimer's to gain prominence. It is nasty, inhumane and evil.
Given the seriousness of the issue and taking into account that the ERC leadership may need several days to reach its conclusions, it is very important to be sure that the time needed to complete a serious and in-depth investigation of what has happened in the party is used for this and not to put up smokescreens that prevent the truth from being clarified. The main victim, Ernest Maragall, on behalf of himself and his family, has expressed his shame and horror at the events, has referred to ERC's responsibility in the whole affair, and has asked his party to avoid falsely closing the internal investigation and to adopt the appropriate measures to determine possible responsibilities, a situation that will have to be resolved by the party's ethics committee.
Maragall goes one step further and names names, with the information provided to him by ERC, related to the defamatory posters, pointing directly at the party's communications director, Tolo Moya. The matter does not stop here, since the accused, far from personally accepting the accusation and being ready to bear the brunt of it, has publicly denounced that he will demonstrate who the ideologue of the posters is - I suppose he has ample documentation and that some of it must have already been put into circulation - and, moreover, he has made the issue of the posters even bigger by talking bluntly about a plot inside the organization - according to Tolo Moya, we would be talking about a parallel structure - which has acted in many more cases that have nothing to do with the affair of the Maragall posters.
Of all the more or less dubious matters that can emerge from a political organization, there is scarcely one so unpleasant and inhumane as the use of a case like Alzheimer's
A couple of thoughts. Of all the more or less dubious matters that can emerge from a political organization, there is scarcely one so unpleasant and inhumane as the use of a case like Alzheimer's. Whether we like it or not, society has become accustomed to political corruption issues, which are clearly harmful to the party system and the democratic order. Unfortunately, they no longer have the impact and do not elicit the social punishment that they did 20 or 30 years ago. The Alzheimer's case is different and has a much more important social impact than that of the parties and the media. Who does not have a relative or acquaintance for whom they feel affection, love and sympathy, afflicted by this traumatic disease?
Secondly, when one is surrounded by difficulties, it is undoubtedly harder to find the way. Partly, because any direction you choose is an uphill struggle. This does not mean that people will understand if you take shortcuts, but rather that the problem must be addressed properly and, as Maragall says, responsibilities must be established. It is not just aesthetics, but also ethics. Those that end up defining one's values and the way one does things.