For the second year in a row, the pro-independence prisoners and exiles have published a letter on the eve of the 11th September in which, as well as calling for the mobilisation of the public this Wednesday to ensure the success of the Diada, they make a series of political reflections which go beyond the day and have the value of revealing the minimum common denominator between the sixteen signatories and the three political parties they represent: Junts per Catalunya, Esquerra Republicana and CUP. The text has two main ideas. The first refers to the reasons to mobilise and fill the streets of Barcelona again: "On 11th September, let's fill Barcelona with democratic dignity and freedom, with no fear about continuing to defend independence and the Catalan Republic as the best project for the present and future". The text's second driving idea refers to the claim of the 1st October, its political and civil value, the determination of the Catalans' rights over the state's violence and the unifying effect it had on the independence movement: "We know that one of the main objectives of the repression is division. Thus, against the frustration, we must return to the serenity, generosity, maturity and determination of the 1st October."
The letter, which is headlined by president Carles Puigdemont, his vice-president, Oriol Junqueras, and the presidents of Òmnium, Jordi Cuixart, and ANC at the time of his imprisonment, Jordi Sànchez, reveals the innumerable nuances there are today between the three parties and, certainly, the delicate manoeuvring that's been necessary. Nothing more need to be said, but the word "sovereigntist" appears more often than "pro-independence", the 27th October 2017 isn't even mentioned and the emphasis, politically speaking, falls on the 1st October, the common denominator they all feel comfortable defending. There's a Cuixart moment, at the end, when it says that "in order to do it again, we must be there again"; another Junqueras moment, "we are doing all of this together and we will never leave anyone behind on the path", and a severe criticism of the Spanish state and Pedro Sánchez's government, which would come close to what president Puigdemont has been saying and which describes the acting prime minister an imitator of Mariano Rajoy who acts "irresponsibly in rejecting a political resolution to a political problem".
The joint call from the sixteen prisoners and exiles should serve to put a damper on the different strategies of Junts per Catalunya and Esquerra over these last few weeks on whether or not it's a good idea to call an election in Catalonia when the Supreme Court's sentences are known. President Quim Torra has already discounted the option, but in the current political climate of division, it's clear that his words don't close the debate although, it's also true, nothing would happen if he doesn't sign the decree dissolving the Parliament. It's probable, however, that on this matter Pedro Sánchez will agree to reach out to the independence movement if there's no investiture in Spain and an election is held on 10th November. In the end, actively or passively, there's always glue in Madrid to resolve open issues with the independence movement and help to put back together the fractures that have occurred.