Many voices, inside and outside of nationalism, think that the veto of the independentist parties to Miquel Iceta is a shot in the foot. Iceta had been criticized for being too "soft" with nationalism, for criticizing the reviled 155 that his party supported (and that far from being a horrendous abuse of institutions meant their recovery for democracy) and his wishes of pardon for the prisoners, his indiscriminate federalism and his comments in favor of an agreed referendum "if enough numbers was given" that had annoyed his training partners. Not even the Commons had ever been so understanding, so tolerant, so dialoguing, with nationalism.
And so his figure at the head of the Senate was so relevant: A comprehensive Catalan as head of the fourth power, a man who has never stood out too much but who does not bother anyone because he doesn't want or can't hide his tendency to dance and histrionics, as quirky as it's sympathetic. All a gesture that the dialogue, if it's intended, this time has in Madrid a real interlocutor, regardless of some people.
And i'is this situation that alarms both Esquerra Republicana and PDECAT. Their strategy has always been based on a persistent demand for "dialogue", although always within limits that made it unfeasible. A gestuality that gave them good returns among his followers and made them self-convinced of how good, democratic and dialoguing they were in front of a government "of the state" intransigent and abusive.
Dialogue, real dialogue, is their enemy. Because true dialogue is the one in which both parties yield a little. Because when a position of maximums is defended in a game of all or nothing, the compromise will never be achieved in one of the extremes. And the extreme is the only goal of a Catalan nationalism that has not been able to adapt its story to reality.
That's why his Iceta veto, shot in the foot included, is so consistent. They are not ready to talk, because dialogue means giving in, and if they give a millimeter, their electoral fuel will be exhausted and they may end up as "exiles" as Puigdemont, but not from the Spanish justice, but from the furious Hoolligans that they themselves have created.
