The craving that (does not) cure

Online definition of a current political term: “In internet slang, a troll (from Norwegian.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
08 April 2024 Monday 04:24
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The craving that (does not) cure

Online definition of a current political term: “In internet slang, a troll (from Norwegian

A few days ago, the president of the Generalitat, little in that role and too much in that of ERC candidate, said that he would go to the Senate to “troll” (to play a troll) with the people of the PP. Yesterday the appointment arrived and, this time to the satisfaction of a majority of Catalans, he disappointed the expectations that he himself had unnecessarily inflated.

He did not act as a troll, nor, on the other hand, did he see himself acceptable to a personality like Aragonès, whom no one in Madrid has ever seen in alarm (let alone trolling), not even when part of the independence movement asked him stand up to the PSOE strategy focused on anesthetizing the process towards independence.

But, above all, Aragonès did not act as a troll because, yes, without a doubt, he would not have corresponded to the dignity or institutional role that corresponds to a president of the Generalitat. A president is not a troublemaker, and even less so (because it is not necessary) in the face of professional provocateurs like your lordships from the PP when they are in the opposition. Aragonès is not an anonymous character either, but the 132nd name in a list of presidents who in turn are a historical thread that vindicates the highest executive institution of Catalan self-government. And it's not in his salary to cause problems or piss off or confront people. All this, due to the dignity of the position, was not appropriate and did not happen. So why create that expectation?

The group Mishima has an album titled L'ànsia que cura, which could well partially answer this question. That these elections are political life or death for many of the candidates who compete in them is demonstrated, in the case of Aragonès, by the anxiety (which does not cure) that since he announced elections describes the president, with a proactive hyperactivity that contrasts with the discreet profile that, by vocation or strategy, he had assumed since he was inaugurated and until now.

Jéssica Albiach, from the commons, says that Aragonès has spoken more about amnesty and referendum in three weeks as a candidate than in three years as president. Surely this is not entirely the case, although certainly ERC agreed not to negotiate this with the PSOE at the dialogue table, which was his big bet. In any case, this is certain, if after the gestural and verbal pyrotechnics of the campaign Aragonès repeats himself as president, everyone senses that he would remain more like who he was a month ago than now. And this with a month of campaign, no matter how superlative it may be, cannot be cured.