Last February 19th, at the Sports Centre in Corçà (Baix Empordà, Catalonia), a conference was called by the commission organizing the polls for independence that will be held in this town on February 28th.
I take advantage of this place to reproduce the speech I made, as the representative of Catalunya Acció invited to this act, and also thank the assistant public and the organization for the hospitality received.
Good evening to everybody,
I would not like to begin my intervention before thank you for having invited Catalunya Acció to participate in this conference, and applaud, on behalf of the organization I represent, the poll for independence that you are organizing for February 28th.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am convinced that I am not wrong if I affirm that everybody gathered in this act -if not all of you, at least a great part- will go to vote for the independence of this country. In other words, I am convinced that on February 28th, Corçà will vote, mainly common sense. Because if something is represented by these ballots is exactly this, a popular expression of common sense.
It is true that these polls represent a democratic exercise too and are a thermometer that will measure the capacity of organization of the towns and cities despite the official silence that the politicians of this country have imposed to suffocate popular initiatives like these. But, above all this, even above the democratic exercise to convoke the people to referendum, there is a factor that make these polls more than an election anecdote, because they are, and so they must be, the primaries of our National Independence.
Because, nowadays, you will convene with me that Catalans have invested enough time demonstrating that are a democratic nation. As if Catalans, who have been one of the most old and glorious Nations in Europe, would not believe ourselves that being Catalan means to bring the democratic gene in the blood. So, I want to go one step beyond and encourage you to live these referendums as a page that you, as part of the Catalan Nation, are writing in History recovering our State. I invite you to take the relay to the spirit born in Arenys de Munt last September, taking the flame that that group of patriots -Mr Ximenis, today present too, was among them, lit up to spread around the Nation.
If Catalonia live today in a collective campaign of polls, is due -and I want to remind it explicitly, to the courage and conviction of a small group of people who demonstrated us how a whole country can be shaken up even when they had the wind against and nobody betting for them. Next February 28th, all you will have the opportunity and the responsibility to make that the spirit of Arenys de Munt continues advancing and settling the bases of our next National emancipation.
But nobody fool themselves. Nobody think that independence will come as a present from heaven. And even a friendly agreement among Spanish, French and Catalans. No! The battle for Independence will be, above all, the battle for the dialectics and oratory. Because, ladies and gentlemen, this war -because we are in a political and diplomatic war, but war, nevertheless-, will demand that we choose an army of political leaders able to confront, to the last consequences, the discourse and the French and Spanish State machine. This, dear friends, is impossible to find in this public trough and fodder spreading institution that one day was our beloved Parliament of Catalonia. This, there, now, is not to be found.
The time for those who do not speak clearly, with euphemisms, auto-censoring themselves, is over. The time of watering down our language and discourse is over. To recover this Nation's dignity is time to recover the adequate tone to express our national genius, the steadiness of our actions and the strength of our reasons. In fact, as I said in the beginning, let's impose common sense.
Our political, cultural, linguistic, social and economic future is in play. Let's be worthy of Catalonia and rise willing to conquer victory that History reserves only to those in those Nations that are called to win. If on September 13th, Arenys de Munt initiated the way to this victory, next February 28th you will become ambassadors of democracy, and will let the world know, and especially the rest of Europe, that very soon, within the heart of the European Union, a new flag will fly, symbol of freedom, justice and democracy; the four stripes of our beautiful and immortal Catalonia.
Many thanks.
Albert Ubach
Member of Catalunya Acció
Speech made at Corçà, (Baix Empordà, Catalonia), on Friday, February 19th 2010, with occasion of the poll for independence to be celebrated on February 28th 2010.
In this occasion, 80 towns and cities of Catalonia, will hold similar polls. The number of electors, older than 16, arrives to a little less than 300,000. The biggest town holding the ballot will be El Vendrell (Baix Penedès). With this second wave of ballots, the number of possible voters will increase to one million Catalans, and the speaker for the National Coordinator qualified it as the non-return point for independence in view of the third wave of polls, to be held on April 25th, in big cities like Lleida, Figueres, Reus, Girona and Manresa.
I take advantage of this place to reproduce the speech I made, as the representative of Catalunya Acció invited to this act, and also thank the assistant public and the organization for the hospitality received.
Good evening to everybody, I would not like to begin my intervention before thank you for having invited Catalunya Acció to participate in this conference, and applaud, on behalf of the organization I represent, the poll for independence that you are organizing for February 28th.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am convinced that I am not wrong if I affirm that everybody gathered in this act -if not all of you, at least a great part- will go to vote for the independence of this country. In other words, I am convinced that on February 28th, Corçà will vote, mainly common sense. Because if something is represented by these ballots is exactly this, a popular expression of common sense.
It is true that these polls represent a democratic exercise too and are a thermometer that will measure the capacity of organization of the towns and cities despite the official silence that the politicians of this country have imposed to suffocate popular initiatives like these. But, above all this, even above the democratic exercise to convoke the people to referendum, there is a factor that make these polls more than an election anecdote, because they are, and so they must be, the primaries of our National Independence.
Because, nowadays, you will convene with me that Catalans have invested enough time demonstrating that are a democratic nation. As if Catalans, who have been one of the most old and glorious Nations in Europe, would not believe ourselves that being Catalan means to bring the democratic gene in the blood. So, I want to go one step beyond and encourage you to live these referendums as a page that you, as part of the Catalan Nation, are writing in History recovering our State. I invite you to take the relay to the spirit born in Arenys de Munt last September, taking the flame that that group of patriots -Mr Ximenis, today present too, was among them, lit up to spread around the Nation.
If Catalonia live today in a collective campaign of polls, is due -and I want to remind it explicitly, to the courage and conviction of a small group of people who demonstrated us how a whole country can be shaken up even when they had the wind against and nobody betting for them. Next February 28th, all you will have the opportunity and the responsibility to make that the spirit of Arenys de Munt continues advancing and settling the bases of our next National emancipation. But nobody fool themselves. Nobody think that independence will come as a present from heaven. And even a friendly agreement among Spanish, French and Catalans. No! The battle for Independence will be, above all, the battle for the dialectics and oratory. Because, ladies and gentlemen, this war -because we are in a political and diplomatic war, but war, nevertheless-, will demand that we choose an army of political leaders able to confront, to the last consequences, the discourse and the French and Spanish State machine. This, dear friends, is impossible to find in this public trough and fodder spreading institution that one day was our beloved Parliament of Catalonia. This, there, now, is not to be found.
The time for those who do not speak clearly, with euphemisms, auto-censoring themselves, is over. The time of watering down our language and discourse is over. To recover this Nation's dignity is time to recover the adequate tone to express our national genius, the steadiness of our actions and the strength of our reasons. In fact, as I said in the beginning, let's impose common sense.
Our political, cultural, linguistic, social and economic future is in play. Let's be worthy of Catalonia and rise willing to conquer victory that History reserves only to those in those Nations that are called to win. If on September 13th, Arenys de Munt initiated the way to this victory, next February 28th you will become ambassadors of democracy, and will let the world know, and especially the rest of Europe, that very soon, within the heart of the European Union, a new flag will fly, symbol of freedom, justice and democracy; the four stripes of our beautiful and immortal Catalonia.
Many thanks.
Albert Ubach
Member of Catalunya Acció
Speech made at Corçà, (Baix Empordà, Catalonia), on Friday, February 19th 2010, with occasion of the poll for independence to be celebrated on February 28th 2010.
In this occasion, 80 towns and cities of Catalonia, will hold similar polls. The number of electors, older than 16, arrives to a little less than 300,000. The biggest town holding the ballot will be El Vendrell (Baix Penedès). With this second wave of ballots, the number of possible voters will increase to one million Catalans, and the speaker for the National Coordinator qualified it as the non-return point for independence in view of the third wave of polls, to be held on April 25th, in big cities like Lleida, Figueres, Reus, Girona and Manresa.
No comments:
Post a Comment