A Man of Conviction and Humanism
Quim Dorca, a business man and one of those liberals by conviction to whom it is good to listen, distinguished two types of condolence. Thus, he recommended the respectful “al cel sia”, for good men, and for those who are not so good, “God has forgiven him”. Without a doubt, Rigol is one of the first. The former president of the Parliament, a man of Christian faith and well-versed in the traditional Catalanism of the Franco underground, has died leaving a legacy of calm and, above all, humanist politics. Yes, Rigol practiced and even had his own rules of how and when to stop listening. Far from stridency and imbued with an almost Calvinist discipline.
A Respected and Committed Leader
Rigol always said, with discreet humor, that as president of the chamber he had to get along well with the opposition, because “with his own people” he was already doing badly. Although he showed a reverential and vital respect for President Jordi Pujol. Personally, I thank Rigol for being one of the politicians who always picked up the phone. An arrangement light years away from many deputies who now fill their mouths with sovereignty and have to ask permission from a party worker to reason with a journalist. He believed without fuss in the sovereignty of the parliament, the deputies and the institutions.
A Skilled and Effective Coordinator
His temperament, wrapping his explanations in an oratory marked by a deep and conclusive voice, helped to make the 9-N consultation. He was the man chosen to coordinate the National Pact for the Right to Decide, consolidating an image of democratic unity that is as commendable as it is effective. That provision granted him a second political youth. Rigol, a highly respected man, won the media and ideological battle against Josep Antoni Duran and Lleida, with whom, until that moment, he had not discussed any order beyond some intimate discrepancy. He was the leader of the 2015 Union National Council revolt in Hospitalet del Llobregat that would lead to the foundation of Democrates, a formation he later abandoned.
A Legacy of Serene and Humanistic Politics
With Rigol, a lively way of doing politics is leaving. The politics of formulaism and principles, of ideology and training, of criteria and respect, of a commitment that gives meaning to your life. One of his writings remarked that politics is trying to ensure that, through a sense of culture, a sense of language, a sense of historical awareness, a sense of participating in the same territory, “we are able to open up to each other others and to welcome those who come here and are not like us”. Rigol always asked politicians “not to lose the dimension of the country”. Civic sense, responsibility and cohesion as a people. This is a legacy that we hope Rigol does not take with him to heaven. Rest in peace, President.