Call for end to judicialised politics

The association Òmnium Cultural yesterday presented its latest initiative to denounce what it considers a “general attack on democracy aimed at sentencing a few citizens to mortgage the future of all Catalan citizens.” The initiative takes the form of the platform Som el 80% (We are the 80%), which has published a manifesto that already has the support of 136 personalities from different fields - cultural, academic, economic and social, among others - as well as political representatives of different ideologies encompassing not only the pro-sovereignty movement, but other parties as well.

The document is based on the premise that in most polls, in the words of vice-president Marcel Mauri, “almost 80% reject the [ruling of] preventive prison”, handed down to Jordi Cuixart (Òmnium) and Jordi Sánchez (ANC) and the rest of the political prisoners and the great consensus in the country regarding the need for “a political solution that must involve elections.”

Given the aim of seeking maximum consensus and as many members as possible, or “fully reflecting the plurality of views in the country,” as Mauri puts it, the manifesto makes no allusion to the independence of Catalonia, another referendum or the desire for sovereignty, thus fulfilling the purpose of prioritising coexistence and social cohesion in the country, as voted for by the association’s last general assembly. The manifesto argues for a political solution through “sincere negotiation, without conditions or renunciations” with “the citizens of Catalonia having the right to decide and democratically exercise their political future.”

The text also rejects repression and the “judicialisation” of politics, calling for the immediate release of the Catalan political prisoners.