Viladot, Albert

Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert

P O L I T I C S  
E L E C T I O N S  '88 
CONVERGENCIA 1 UNIÓ LOST THREE DEPUTIES AND THE 
SOCIALISTS GAINED ONE. THE REMAINING POLITICAL FORCES, 
TO RIGHT AND LEFT, MANAGED TO INCREASE THEIR 
REPRESENTATION SLICHTLY, EXCEPT FOR ALIANCA POPULAR; 
THAT WAS REDUCED BY HALF. 
A L B E R T  V I L A D O T  J O U R N A L I S T  
C he nationalist centre coalition Con- vergencia i Unió repeated its abso- lute majo* in the Catalan par- 
liament at the eledions held on 29th May 
and will now form a govemment for the 
third consecutive time. This coalition, which 
brigs together progressive and conservative 
sedon united essentially in the defence of 
the rights of Catalonia, had already won 
with an absolute maiority in the elections of 
1984. The results were as expeded and 
there were no great surprises. At first it was 
believed that Convergencia i Unió could 
win more seats than in 1984, and that the 
principal opposition party, the Socialist Par- 
ty, would lose a few. In the end, this was not 
the case; Convergencia i Unió lost three 
deputies and the Socialists gained one. The 
remaining political forces, to right and left, 
managed fo increase their representation 
slightly, except for Alianqa Popular, that 
was reduced by half. 
These results, that caused no real surprise, 
allowed Jordi Pujol, the leader of CiU, to 
continue as president of the Generalitat 
de Catalunya, the maximum organ of 
home rule. Senyor Pujol has been presi- 
dent since 1980 and the popularity he en- 
joys goes beyond the bounds of his party 
and the nationalist ideology it defends. 
Jordi Pujol was elected president of the 
Generalitat in 1980 against al1 the odds. 
Since then, his political messqge , has 
penetrated deeper and deeper into new 
social sector5 who, like CiU, feel that the 
most important thing for Catalonia at this 
moment, in history is to reinforce its insti- 
tutions, since it has no state of its own. For 
this reason, Puiol and his nationalist coali- 
tion argue for the political strengthening 
of the Generalitat, a relaunching of the 
economy and the penetration of elements 
of national identity (language, culture) 
into al1 social groups. In this respect, it 
should be mentioned that iust under half 
the population now resident in Catalonia 
(six million people) were born in other 
parts of the lberian Peninsula. The im- 
mense maiority of them settled in Catalo- 
nia for financia1 reasons. They did so dur- 
ing the Franco dictatorship, that is to say, 
ata time when Catalonia had no political 
or institucional mechanism by which to 
ensure a normal integration of such a 
massive human avalanche, totally ig- 
norant of the historical and cultural reality 
of the country they were going to live in. 
In fact, these people were loaded with the 
anti-Catalan prejudices that the Franco 
government had fostered ever since the 
Civil War of 1936-1 939. 
At present, through a slow, delicate 
process, the hypothetical problem of the 
conflict between the two cultures is being 
successfully dealt with, thanks to the ef- 
forts of the various political and social 
P O L I T I C S  
secton. During the transition from dicta- 
torship to democracy, hardly anyone has 
wanted to take advantage of this division 
between the two communities. On the 
contrary, a gradual integration of the 
immigrants in Catalonia has been 
achieved, at the same time as those who 
are Catalan by birth have gradually mo- 
dified their own cultural habits. The lan- 
guage is not a cause for controversy: it is 
understood by 95 % of the population, 
spoken by two thirds and taught in schools 
without any problem. 
Jordi Pujol, the winner of the May elec- 
tions, is a firm supporter of this policy of 
gradual integration. This moderation is 
one of the reasons why he is so widely 
accepted. The main opposition party, the 
Socialists, are also in favour of this moder- 
ate cultural integr'ation, but their links with 
the state Socialist pariy make important 
sectors of the electorate lose faith in their 
capacity to act independently. This has 
worked against them in al1 the autonomic 
elections; on the other hand, when the 
elections affect the whole of Spain this 
dependence benefits them. 
One of the great political challenges 
facing Catalonia over the next four years 
is that of relations with the central gov- 
ernment. In fact, the maiority of the 
Catalan electorate feels that the Socialist 
government has maintained a restrictive 
attitude before Catalan autonomy. Opin- 
ion polls published recently in the press 
show that there is a growing feeling in 
favour of broadening Catalonia's autono- 
my. This could involve a less restrictive in- 
terpretation of the present statute of 
autonomy (approved in 1979) or even its 
reform, as many people are already de- 
manding. The increase in the parliamenta- 
ry representation of those parties most 
concerned with the question of autonomy, 
such as the communists of Iniciativa per 
Catalunya and the radical nationalists of Es- 
querra Republicana, also suggest that there 
is a growing sector of public opinion that is 
not satisfied with the present status quo. 
President Puiol himself does not consider 
the reform of the statutes necessary and 
prefers to speak of a more generous appli- 
cation of the present tules of the game. As 
for the Spanish govemment, it has not yet 
said what it intends to do, though it agrees 
with Jordi Pujol that the reform of the 
statutes is not necessary at the moment. 
After the nationalist victory of 29th May, 
these are the basic characteristics of 
Catalan political life for the next four 
years. Never before has it been possible 
to hold three successive autonomic elec- 
tions in Catalonia, and never before have 
the ideas expressed been so strongly in 
favour of self-government in al1 its dif- 
ferent shades. 


Elections '88

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Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert