The presentation by Junts pel Sí (Together for Yes) and the CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy) of the proposed Law of Transitional Jurisprudence and Foundation of the Republic in the register of the Catalan Parliament, is confirmation that next week the Catalan Chamber will become the focus of a decisive plenary session for the referendum of 1st October. The bill has entered like a long-range missile of which its precision of impact is still unknown, nor the target's nerve point, even though on its pathway the destruction it has caused is remarkable. Forty-eight hours after the demonstration in the aftermath of the attacks of 17th August, that in Madrid has been seen as a clear challenge to the status quo that embodies principally the king and the Spanish prime minister; twenty-four hours after the Catalan president Puigdemont announced in an interview in this newspaper that he would propose to Mariano Rajoy a short negotiation if 'yes' wins the referendum; this Monday, the two parliamentary groups that have the absolute majority in the Chamber, have crossed the threshold set by those non-believers who claimed that this law would not be presented.
Not only was it made public during an event held in one of the rooms of Parliament, but what is more surprising: it has caught the opposition offside and without stringing together a minimally sound speech. Appealing to the unrest that exists in independentism in the demonstration of Saturday is not only a mistake but an indication of a certain clumsiness when drawing up strategies. The fact that there is a commitment for approval before the referendum is due to an old agreement of wanting to accompany the result with a legal arsenal necessary for a break if 'yes' wins. The response from the Spanish prime minister from Paris, pointing out that he doesn't make comments about press conferences, is certainly of low intensity, but matches badly with the hasty appeal from the general secretary of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), Pedro Sánchez, offering to establish a joint script in response to Catalan independentism.
In 89 articles and three final dispositions, the bill proposes the passage of the law to the law. From the current Spanish law to a Catalan law in a new state. From the possibility to have double nationality and the confirmation that Catalan and Castilian Spanish will be the official languages, to the assumption of personnel by the public administrations of Catalonia, and the subrogation by the Catalan state of the contracts, conventions and agreements of the Spanish state. As well as the role of the president of the Republic, the treatment of judicial power, finances and the start of the constituent process that will begin with a participative process, followed by some elections, and end with the ratification of a constitution.
It is obvious that the final battle towards 1st October is entering a decisive phase that will not be stopped by the ordinary courts, that have much more slower processes. Nor is it clear that the Constitutional Court wants to adopt a role that does not correspond to it, and to which the PP (Popular Party) government wants to push it. Because of that, Xavier García Albiol (president of the PP in Catalonia) speaks of Article 155 of the Constitution again, and some ministers comment in low voices on the possibility of restoring temporary control of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), or taking charge of the schools [possible polling stations] by the state. Perhaps everything is much simpler: there are many plans and many ideas but difficult to attain without high erosion. And this erosion is what nobody wants to take on.