What has the Parliament gained and what has it lost, in its 90-year history, since it was restored in 1932? The pomp and solemnity that sometimes surrounds parliamentary life can give the image of an institution far from the citizens. But there is no need to be deceived. Legislatives evolve hand in hand with society, and in Catalonia, the commemoration this week in Parliament of its 90th anniversary is an opportunity to review the changes. Not only in the matters that are dealt with, but also in the formal aspects. From that plenary of men, sons of the bourgeoisie, with their suits and ties, they have moved to a parity hemicycle, in which etiquette has been relaxed so much that even T-shirts can fit. The parliamentary debates, intense but respectful in the thirties, deserve a separate chapter. Now sometimes not so much.
On December 6, 1932, the Parliament held its constitutive session, after the September elections. The anniversary refers to a year of hope and great illusions, due to the recovery of the parliamentary tradition interrupted in 1714, and although in the end it could only serve one legislature, many laws were approved.
“The deputies of the Parliament of 1932 almost all had academic training. As a whole, they were quite representative of society, from high finance to the world of workers, although there was a majority of lawyers and doctors”, details the historian Mercè Morales, a specialist in Catalan government institutions. “It was a very formal Parliament, both in the way of dressing and in the speeches, and the debates were lively but respectful. They were imbued with solemnity. The priority then was to legislate, to build the new Catalonia ”, she adds.
The journalist Marc Giró insists on that point. “When you look at photos from the time, there is a uniformity among the deputies, all in suits and ties, as the puppies of the bourgeoisie are expected to dress. There was a certain idea of how the institution, which represented the country, should be honored. In the 80s the formality was maintained, but the suits are more unstructured, colors are introduced”.
Rosa Barenys, deputy of the PSC (1980-1999), remembers that in the first legislature everything was to be done. “The Republican Parliament had ordered the political, social and economic life of Catalonia, it began to establish the rights and duties of citizens. But with Francoism everything was destroyed. Therefore, it was starting over and seeing what the republican Parliament had done so as not to lose any of those laws or projects that could be used and developed in the recent democracy, ”she notes.
Dolors Montserrat, PP deputy from 1988 to 2015, highlights the "extraordinary relationship" between the parliamentary groups, which was cut short, she points out, a few years ago. “There was political discussion, differences between parties, but if it was possible, efforts were joined to advance an initiative for the common good. I now miss more intense work and not so many discussions, ”she says.
Joan Boada, ICV deputy (1995-2006 and 2010-2012) agrees. “From the outside I see that some politicians now do not respect the institution. Before, you could be very tough against your political rival, but always keeping your manners. Very rarely did it come to insult and they immediately withdrew because they called you to order, the presidents were clear that respect had to be the basis of political relations ”, he notes.
Meritxell Borràs, CDC deputy from 1995 to 2015, recalls that "despite the ideological discrepancies, there was good treatment". “The tension that has been seen on occasion in Parliament has not existed among citizens. I say it, that after 1-O I went to jail for 33 days and I have not met people who have confronted me, except for two minor cases ”, she highlights.
"What has been lost is parliamentarism, which is the ability, while maintaining your political positions, to speak, agree, negotiate with the rest of the antagonistic political forces, and reach agreements," stresses Jordi Terrades, deputy of the PSC from the 2001. "In the Parliament, especially in the last decade of what has been called processism, this ability to dialogue between diverse groups has been more difficult," he adds.
Lluís Corominas, who was a CDC deputy (2003-2017), recalls the drafting of the 2006 Statute in Parliament and notes that in some way "it was lucky that there was a tripartite government with the PSC in the presidency, because it meant that It was a broad-spectrum statute.” “We were aware that we were doing something historic. What happened next, the cuts, was unfortunate, and from the 2010 sentence and the successive State budgets, what was the process was born ”, he adds.
The ruling of the Constitutional Court that cut the Statute "permeated the entire legislature", underlines Ernest Maragall, deputy for the PSC in 2010-2012, and for the ERC since 2018. "There was a contained tension, it was not clear what was going to happen with this Catalan proposal for federal loyalty that disappeared at the hands of Congress and the TC. And it was an obvious turning point for Parliament and for the country, ”he concludes.
