If the first outright majority for pro-independence parties in the history of the Catalan parliament fails to combine its forces to vote in a president and form a government, the consequent political embarrassment will be phenomenal: the embarrassment of turning a victory that was unthinkable only five years ago into an inexplicable defeat; the embarrassment of fulfilling the prophecy of everyone who --in Madrid and Barcelona-- had always eagerly predicted a split in the secessionist bloc; the embarrassment of falling for the State’s strategy of demonising and besieging independence supporters by linking them to corruption and inefficacy.

If the first outright majority for pro-independence parties in the Catalan parliament fails to materialise, it will be a very hard blow for droves of well-meaning people who had shunned politics until recently, and enthusiastically signed up for this viable utopia. For some, it was an old ideal that had become a real possibility; for others, it meant a novel hope. Many such people will rightly feel disappointed and will go back to minding their own business, to feeling detached from politics and embracing skepticism on Catalonia again. They are unlikely to understand how come when we were so close to the finish line, the representatives whom they trusted absurdly ruined it all.

If the first outright majority for pro-independence parties in the Catalan parliament fails to materialise, it will be an undeserved gift for the unionist minority, because it has been unable, thus far, to offer an alternative, a viable third way between independence and keeping the current status quo. Unionism has merely dwelled in anti-politics whilst kicking the ball forward, hence its string of electoral defeats.

If the first outright majority for pro-independence parties in the Catalan parliament fails to materialise, an electoral victory of Ciudadanos on December 20 suddenly becomes a real possibility in Catalonia. Ciudadanos was born and grew out of the anti-catalanist sentiment, which they have used as a springboard to enter Spanish politics. Frankly, it would be a regrettable paradox if there was such an abysmal gap between the election results on September 27 and December 20. Undoubtedly, it would be a blow for the narrative and the morale of independence supporters.

If the first outright majority for pro-independence parties in the Catalan parliament fails to materialise, we will be stuck with a weak acting government, unable to implement the democratically regenerative, socially sensitive platform that Together For Yes and the CUP have promised. This government will be even less able to forge ahead with the independence process and face up to the financial and judicial onslaught from the Spanish State’s apparatus and media pressue, which is and will remain overwhelming.

If the first outright majority for pro-independence parties in the Catalan parliament fails to materialise, we will convey a message of impotence and division to the international community. The very same foreign media which --unlike Spain’s-- readily acknowledged the pro-independence victory of September 27, will now declare it dead. And, once again, they will be right.

If the first outright majority for pro-independence parties in the Catalan parliament fails to materialise, whomever gets blamed for the defeat --fairly or otherwise-- will forever bear the mark of the guilty and their political project will likely lie in the gutter for several decades. Therefore, not only will they hurt the independence process, but will also shoot themselves in the foot while at it. Politics is very cruel. Sometimes a perception error can ruin the work of years: beyond one’s own electorate, one’s own ideological core, one must be able to grasp the overall beat of the movement.

Now the die is cast, it is time for the grand alliance for Catalonia’s national transition towards independence.