“Let us be aware of this: we are in an unprecedented scenario, and it offers an undoubted political opportunity. We are convinced that we must take advantage of it.” For Òmnium Cultural, the opportunity is unmatched to achieve amnesty and address self-determination once and for all. Parliamentary arithmetic forces Pedro Sánchez to explore a single path, which runs through the Catalan and Basque independence movement. But for Xavier Antich, president of the entity, it is essential that ERC and Junts coordinate, especially for a first phase: that of the amnesty that “at least” should apply to 1,432 people.
Òmnium has been, in this way, the first that has dared to put a figure. Of the “4,400 reprisals” that he counts, in his opinion 1,432 should be included in the amnesty. These would be 113 criminally convicted, 17 pending sentencing, 387 with an open criminal case, 880 administratively sanctioned and 35 pending before the Court of Auditors. Among them would not be the former president of the Parliament, Laura Borràs, convicted of prevarication and falsification of documents. From the entity they justify that "without going into evaluating her management in the ILC or whether she has had a fair trial, it is not an exercise of fundamental rights, which is what the amnesty demands."
In any case, Antich has assured that they do not forget "the rest of the retaliated people, for whom we demand fair reparation." He underlined this from the Lluís Companys promenade, in Barcelona, in the event that the association organizes every Onze de Setembre.
It's now or never, depending on the entity. “We believe that a new opportunity has opened up, undoubtedly unprecedented. And that requires good management of the strength that the situation gives to the votes of the pro-independence and pro-sovereignty forces. In this battle of national aspiration, which we know is long, we need victories, and we can have them,” said Antich.
According to the leader of the entity, political parties have the responsibility of politically channeling “the great consensuses of the citizens of Catalonia” that are expressed, in his opinion, with amnesty and self-determination. Until now ERC and Junts are negotiating separately with the PSOE and Sumar. Antich has regretted it. He sees tacticism: “It cannot be that tactical diversity makes it impossible to work doubled to achieve it. The fight to be able to exercise the right to self-determination with international recognition, and for 1,432 people to be affected by the amnesty, requires serious negotiation with the state, and political parties have to show us that they can negotiate in a coordinated manner.
Quite an extensive explanation that he immediately summarized in nine words: “This is not going to be right, this is going to win.” A statement that he has maintained before the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, as well as before the leadership of ERC and Junts, and the representation of the CUP.
Even so, Òmnium is clear that this first hypothetical achievement, that of amnesty, is only a starting point to immediately address the right to self-determination. Antuch, furthermore, has not let the responsibility fall exclusively on the political class. The president of Òmnium has urged civil society to work together and has called for “permanent mobilization.”
