Less than twelve hours had passed since the announcement of another pro-independence victory in the Catalan parliamentary elections and the news that the independence bloc had managed to surpass the 50% mark for the first time in votes, as well as growing in seats (from 70 to 74) when the public prosecutors for Barcelona province reported that they had lodged an appeal against the political prisoners' prison regime, which could cause the loss of the prison leave rights they enjoy and their immediate return to lock-up jail.
There is ultimately no surprise in this, but it does confirm two realities: one, that only through their condition as nine political prisoners can one understand the reaction to a political fact such as a particular election result, and the commotion with which Madrid political and media circles are digesting the possibility of a new pro-independence government, in this case, led by Pere Aragonès, of the Republican Left (ERC). Secondly, it is clear that the prosecutors did not want to harm the campaign of former Socialist minister Salvador Illa, who would have been hit hard by such news amid his false appeals to turn the page and for reconciliation. The deep state continues with its agenda that the best measure is repression, and from there it is not budging.
It is no less striking how verdicts are executed in the capital of the Kingdom of Spain. Thus, after the announcement about the political prisoners it became known that the Supreme Court had rejected a complaint against the king emeritus Juan Carlos I who fled to the United Arab Emirates last August, and that the Madrid High Court acquitted the former president of the Community of Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes, over the Master's case, due to lack of evidence in the crime of forgery. Two pieces of news that, together with the request for urgent entry to jail of political prisoners in a closed prison regime, are worth reflecting on and not just because they take place at the same time
All this, amidst the "day after" atmosphere in relation to Sunday's election, which has granted Pere Aragonès the baton to conduct negotiations to form a government. For the first time since the restoration of democracy, ERC will lead the Catalan government, define the framework of the playing field for the next four years and set its preferences for alliance policy. In short, it will gather votes for its roadmap and the preparation of its executive. Everyone knows that there is no alternative to ERC that does mean repeating the election, a situation that no one wants and everyone rules out, as it would imply contempt for the voters' mandate, which has drawn an electoral map that is complex but by no means impossible in terms of making pacts.
The first moves are as expected: ERC's rejection of active or passive support from the Catalan Socialists through both Oriol Junqueras and Aragonès; willingness of Junts to negotiate a pro-independence government agreement in the words of Jordi Sànchez; a nuanced look at previous legislatures by the CUP, which is flirting with an entry into the government, and apparently without initial vetos on Junts by its candidate Dolors Sabater or Poble Lliure, one of its groups; resistance from the Comuns of Jéssica Albiach and Ada Colau to anything other than a left-wing government that leaves out Junts; and, finally, the attempts of Salvador Illa to publicise that he will go to an investiture vote - something more than improbable - while waiting to see if there will be more political and forceful movements that give clues with respect to the legislature.
And, in the middle of it all, flying over the scene, the pardons of Pedro Sánchez and Pablo Iglesias, which seem to act like a sword of Damocles hanging over possible pacts and roadmaps. For the first day after the 14th February, it’s no small feat. The dimensions of the deal to form a government are not yet visible, but the bare thread can be glimpsed.