Puigllançada |
dimarts, 24 de gener de 2006 | 22:53h
Avui no he escoltat el Catalunya Vespre, un dels millors programes que queden a Catalunya Ràdio després del pas de la Minobis i en Majó.
Però tinc 2 articles publicats sobre el tema que potser són els que et refereixes. Són en V.O. anglesa. En alguna banda vaig llegir que algú els havia traduit al català, però jo no ho tinc.
* El primer és del Financial Times (del dia 9) i fa un joc de paraules amb el llibre de George Orwell "Homage to Catalonia".
Hostage to Catalonia - But a rattled sabre fails to rattle a democratic Spain.
Most future historians will note with satisfaction that when Spain, three decades after the death of Franco and the supplanting of his dictatorship by democracy, was told by the commander of the Spanish army that the military might intervene if Catalonia was to get more self-governing powers, Spain was mildly shaken but far from stirred. General Jose Mena Aguado will go down in history as an anachronism.
The days of the military pronunciamiento are over. Spain is a confident and prosperous democracy inside the European Union, a cultural and economic powerhouse and an international citizen of standing. Its federal political system - despite tensions with the Basques and Catalans - must be accounted a success.
Yet in a speech last Friday Gen Mena referred to the Catalan regional government's plans to expand its powers as a repetition of pre-civil war history (he referred to the May 1932 debates on the Catalan autonomy statute). This is reactionary blackmail. Unhappily, the general is not entirely wrong when he claims Article 8 of the constitution empowers the army with defending the "territorial integrity" of Spain. Spain's democratic charter, passed in December 1978, contains flaws, recognised by many at the time. Article 8 was used by Francoist officers to justify their failed putsch of February 1981.
That era is over. But perhaps Spain's government(s) and people could usefully remind themselves of this. The government in Madrid, currently under Socialist management, is right to arrest Gen Mena. It intends to fire him, with the full support of the army chief of staff, and should make clear the same fate awaits any of his emulators.
El govern català - també a mans socialistes - hauria d'actuar amb precaució. Té tot el dret de demanar millores en el finançament, tal com tenen els bascos. La demanda de considerar Catalunya com una "nació" reflecteix un desig que té el suport de la gent. This is not, per se, separatism; Article 2 of the constitution already recognises "nationalities" within Spain. Nor should its demand for greater judicial autonomy cause alarm so long as the supremacy of Spain's higher courts remains paramount.
But the Catalans, who pride themselves on being more European than the rest of Spain, should remember the principles of European Union solidarity. These include fiscal transfers from richer to less well-off regions. Why should that be right within Europe but wrong within Spain?
Spain's constitution should also be amended to spell out the supremacy of civil over military power. Unfortunately, the opposition Popular Party, still unreconciled to its ejection from power after the Madrid bombings of March 2004, seems to think Gen Mena has a point. That could represent a greater threat to Spanish unity than Catalonia's autonomy ambitions.
* El segon és de The Economist (del dia 14)
The row over Catalonia's constitutional statute
The Economist 14 de gener de 2006
WHEN a general talks of the army stepping in to uphold a country's territorial integrity, any democrat should worry. When the country is Spain, which emerged from Franco's dictatorship only 30 years ago and saw off an attempted coup as recently as 1981, the worries should multiply.
That is why Spain's government was right to arrest General José Mena Algado, head of the Spanish army, last weekend, after he said publicly that Catalonia's new constitutional statute, which gives it both more autonomy and recognition as a "nation", might necessitate military intervention. He cited article 8 of the Spanish constitution, which gives the
army a mission to guarantee the country's "integrity
and constitutional order". The Catalan statute, overwhelmingly approved by the regional parliament last September, is now being debated by the Spanish parliament in Madrid ()see page 40.
Spain's 1978 constitution devolved many powers that were centralised under Franco to the 17 "autonomous regions", though it did so unevenly. The Basque country and Catalonia, which have the most autonomy, have long agitated for more; a sizeable minority in both regions wants to move towards independence. In the Basque case, debate has been disfigured by the violence of ETA, though solid police work has weakened this terrorist group. Yet most governments in Madrid have intransigently refused to consider any more autonomy for the regions, let alone to contemplate eventual independence. The willingness of the Socialist government under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, elected in March 2004, to negotiate with the Basque country and Catalonia was a welcome change.
There are respectable arguments against Mr Zapatero's flexibility, even so. Nationalists will never be satisfied by concessions such as a separate judiciary or tax-raising powers; because they always ask for more, it might be better tactically to rule out even limited concessions. Besides, Mr Zapatero's negotiating position is undermined because, in Madrid, his government depends on the votes of left-wing Catalan nationalists; while in Barcelona, the Socialist-led regional government is in coalition with the same nationalist party. Moreover, there is a big financial problem. The Basque country and, especially, Catalonia are among Spain's wealthiest regions. Give them too much fiscal autonomy and they may pull out of the desirable process of transferring money from rich to poor parts of the country. Indeed, a wish to limit net transfers to Madrid has been a driving force behind the new Catalan statute.
Yet Mr Zapatero is still right to favour negotiations. The high-handed refusal of the previous People's Party government, under José María Aznar, even to talk to Basque and Catalan nationalists has merely served to stoke secessionist fervour in both regions. Other countries have discovered that the best way to defuse demands for independence may be to concede more autonomy and even, if need be, to recognise claims to nationhood. Now that they have their own parliament, fewer people in Scotland want a complete break from London. Quebec's demands for independence have to some degree been defanged by Canada's Clarity Act of 2000, which sets out a procedure under which Ottawa would negotiate with any province that votes for independence by a clear majority.
Clarity needed.
Because it is the richest part of the country, Catalonia presents more problems than Scotland or Quebec, which are net recipients from central government. Yet since only a minority of Catalan voters seem genuinely to want independence, a bit of pandering to nationalist feeling could still work wonders, even if it involved accepting most of the new Catalan statute and, if necessary, changing Spain's 1978 constitution. Indeed, article 8 of the 1978 text surely needs amendment anyway to remove even the flimsiest excuse for a military intervention. A modern democracy should be capable of accommodating regional autonomy, and even a clear wish for independence. But it should never be intimidated by a general.
Però tinc 2 articles publicats sobre el tema que potser són els que et refereixes. Són en V.O. anglesa. En alguna banda vaig llegir que algú els havia traduit al català, però jo no ho tinc.
* El primer és del Financial Times (del dia 9) i fa un joc de paraules amb el llibre de George Orwell "Homage to Catalonia".
Hostage to Catalonia - But a rattled sabre fails to rattle a democratic Spain.
Most future historians will note with satisfaction that when Spain, three decades after the death of Franco and the supplanting of his dictatorship by democracy, was told by the commander of the Spanish army that the military might intervene if Catalonia was to get more self-governing powers, Spain was mildly shaken but far from stirred. General Jose Mena Aguado will go down in history as an anachronism.
The days of the military pronunciamiento are over. Spain is a confident and prosperous democracy inside the European Union, a cultural and economic powerhouse and an international citizen of standing. Its federal political system - despite tensions with the Basques and Catalans - must be accounted a success.
Yet in a speech last Friday Gen Mena referred to the Catalan regional government's plans to expand its powers as a repetition of pre-civil war history (he referred to the May 1932 debates on the Catalan autonomy statute). This is reactionary blackmail. Unhappily, the general is not entirely wrong when he claims Article 8 of the constitution empowers the army with defending the "territorial integrity" of Spain. Spain's democratic charter, passed in December 1978, contains flaws, recognised by many at the time. Article 8 was used by Francoist officers to justify their failed putsch of February 1981.
That era is over. But perhaps Spain's government(s) and people could usefully remind themselves of this. The government in Madrid, currently under Socialist management, is right to arrest Gen Mena. It intends to fire him, with the full support of the army chief of staff, and should make clear the same fate awaits any of his emulators.
El govern català - també a mans socialistes - hauria d'actuar amb precaució. Té tot el dret de demanar millores en el finançament, tal com tenen els bascos. La demanda de considerar Catalunya com una "nació" reflecteix un desig que té el suport de la gent. This is not, per se, separatism; Article 2 of the constitution already recognises "nationalities" within Spain. Nor should its demand for greater judicial autonomy cause alarm so long as the supremacy of Spain's higher courts remains paramount.
But the Catalans, who pride themselves on being more European than the rest of Spain, should remember the principles of European Union solidarity. These include fiscal transfers from richer to less well-off regions. Why should that be right within Europe but wrong within Spain?
Spain's constitution should also be amended to spell out the supremacy of civil over military power. Unfortunately, the opposition Popular Party, still unreconciled to its ejection from power after the Madrid bombings of March 2004, seems to think Gen Mena has a point. That could represent a greater threat to Spanish unity than Catalonia's autonomy ambitions.
* El segon és de The Economist (del dia 14)
The row over Catalonia's constitutional statute
The Economist 14 de gener de 2006
WHEN a general talks of the army stepping in to uphold a country's territorial integrity, any democrat should worry. When the country is Spain, which emerged from Franco's dictatorship only 30 years ago and saw off an attempted coup as recently as 1981, the worries should multiply.
That is why Spain's government was right to arrest General José Mena Algado, head of the Spanish army, last weekend, after he said publicly that Catalonia's new constitutional statute, which gives it both more autonomy and recognition as a "nation", might necessitate military intervention. He cited article 8 of the Spanish constitution, which gives the
army a mission to guarantee the country's "integrity
and constitutional order". The Catalan statute, overwhelmingly approved by the regional parliament last September, is now being debated by the Spanish parliament in Madrid ()see page 40.
Spain's 1978 constitution devolved many powers that were centralised under Franco to the 17 "autonomous regions", though it did so unevenly. The Basque country and Catalonia, which have the most autonomy, have long agitated for more; a sizeable minority in both regions wants to move towards independence. In the Basque case, debate has been disfigured by the violence of ETA, though solid police work has weakened this terrorist group. Yet most governments in Madrid have intransigently refused to consider any more autonomy for the regions, let alone to contemplate eventual independence. The willingness of the Socialist government under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, elected in March 2004, to negotiate with the Basque country and Catalonia was a welcome change.
There are respectable arguments against Mr Zapatero's flexibility, even so. Nationalists will never be satisfied by concessions such as a separate judiciary or tax-raising powers; because they always ask for more, it might be better tactically to rule out even limited concessions. Besides, Mr Zapatero's negotiating position is undermined because, in Madrid, his government depends on the votes of left-wing Catalan nationalists; while in Barcelona, the Socialist-led regional government is in coalition with the same nationalist party. Moreover, there is a big financial problem. The Basque country and, especially, Catalonia are among Spain's wealthiest regions. Give them too much fiscal autonomy and they may pull out of the desirable process of transferring money from rich to poor parts of the country. Indeed, a wish to limit net transfers to Madrid has been a driving force behind the new Catalan statute.
Yet Mr Zapatero is still right to favour negotiations. The high-handed refusal of the previous People's Party government, under José María Aznar, even to talk to Basque and Catalan nationalists has merely served to stoke secessionist fervour in both regions. Other countries have discovered that the best way to defuse demands for independence may be to concede more autonomy and even, if need be, to recognise claims to nationhood. Now that they have their own parliament, fewer people in Scotland want a complete break from London. Quebec's demands for independence have to some degree been defanged by Canada's Clarity Act of 2000, which sets out a procedure under which Ottawa would negotiate with any province that votes for independence by a clear majority.
Clarity needed.
Because it is the richest part of the country, Catalonia presents more problems than Scotland or Quebec, which are net recipients from central government. Yet since only a minority of Catalan voters seem genuinely to want independence, a bit of pandering to nationalist feeling could still work wonders, even if it involved accepting most of the new Catalan statute and, if necessary, changing Spain's 1978 constitution. Indeed, article 8 of the 1978 text surely needs amendment anyway to remove even the flimsiest excuse for a military intervention. A modern democracy should be capable of accommodating regional autonomy, and even a clear wish for independence. But it should never be intimidated by a general.