Half-hearted contrition for the infiltration of agents from the Mossos d’Esquadra information police station into a teachers’ union assembly. Neither mea culpa nor chest beating. The interior minister, Núria Parlon, and the police director general, Josep Lluís Trapero, went to the Parliament with the same spirit the emeritus king once had when he was photographed with an elephant he had shot in Botswana: “I was wrong, it will not happen again.” Smart kids in class learn quickly too: to disarm the one who must reprimand them, there is no more effective weapon than asking for forgiveness.
Parlon and Trapero acknowledged the mistake while brushing off the fleas. Attributing it to a lower rank in the police organizational chart of the general information police station to distance it from the political leadership positions they hold.
The police director general is the big game target of Junts, ERC, CUP, and Comuns
Error, unfortunate event, poor approach, room for improvement, etc. In ten minutes the minister used all the formulas the dictionary offers to admit that yes, it is wrong for the cops to attend meetings where teachers prepare mobilizations. But she made a similar effort to make it clear that she and Trapero were just passing by, that the fault – without bad intention – was of the uniformed officers who misjudged the scenario and designed the operation worse. And since she and Trapero are just politicians, it has nothing to do with the matter. The minister did not wash her hands like Pilate, but she did show them insistently to prove they came from home clean as a whistle.
Operational versus political. That was Parlon’s obsession. The minister’s argument has a big hole. Taken to the extreme, political responsibilities would not exist and all interior ministers and councillors in the world could live peacefully and sleep with their phones off from now on. But the truth is that political leadership, in a democracy, includes assuming responsibility for acts and decisions of others for which one must answer. A different matter is whether this particular case demands the minister’s head or not. That only Junts – 35 deputies out of 135 – demands it makes clear, in any case, that it is not the majority opinion in Parliament.
Josep Lluís Trapero is more targeted. Junts, ERC, CUP, and Comuns insisted again and again on the need to dismiss him. The police director general is the big game piece that these groups, some more convinced than others, aim to claim with this crisis.
Read more Latvian Prime Minister resigns amid government crisis following incident with Ukrainian drones
Trapero exercises his political responsibility accompanied by a coin in his pocket that, like all, has two sides. The head, his experience, knowledge, and authority, accumulated as a police professional. The tail, that most groups still see him as an active police commander who accumulates political power. Too much power for Trapero, who commands more than the minister and makes political control of the Mossos impossible – due to his police status – say the groups demanding his resignation, with more or less explicit emphasis.
Yesterday’s session does not dispel the uncertainty about the political responsibilities in the case. It will depend, in any case, on ERC, which is about to close the budget agreement with Salvador Illa. If the republicans stick to their guns, Trapero’s future as a political leader of the Mossos would be compromised. Although the decision, to keep up appearances, would be postponed until after the public accounts are settled.
Aside from bills and political opinions, yesterday’s session also had very practical consequences. To start, someone will have to pay the price at the general information police station. Although the interior department only opened the reserved investigation two days ago to clarify the facts, the minister’s characterization in Parliament of the error as very serious inevitably forces someone among the uniformed officers to take responsibility. The longer this issue stays on the media and political agenda, the closer the shave will have to be.
Changes also in the police organizational chart and in the decision-making protocols of the magnitude that caused the crisis. From now on, officers with more stripes will have to authorize similar operations. And a pronounced commitment with an oath-like air: it will not happen again. It is advisable that it be so. Like the Botswana case.
Read more The secret war of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against Iran
