Politics

The Foreign Affairs spokesperson of Irish Republicans Sinn Féin, Seán Crowe, has expressed his party’s concerns regarding the prosecution of the Catalan Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, for allowing the pro-independence roadmap to be put to vote in the Catalan Chamber. In a communiqué published this Monday on Crowe’s personal website and that of Sinn Féin, the Irish politician wrote that he considers Forcadell’s summonsing “hugely concerning” and warned that her prosecution and potential debarment from public office “puts at risk the very democratic standards that people hold dear throughout the world”. Thus, he calls for the Spanish Government to “reconsider” its position “even at this late stage” and warns that that the executive led by the conservative People’s Party “cannot stifle, ignore, or ban the democratic demands” of the Catalan people.

The five pro-independence activists who burned pictures of the King of Spain will testify on Tuesday at 9 am (CET time) before Spain’s High Court, the ‘Audiencia Nacional’, in Madrid. The Catalan Police Force, Mossos d’Esquadra, has already arrested three of them and will detain the remaining two and hand them over to the Spanish Guardia Civil during the course of the day. Mossos d’Esquadra acted following the orders of the Spanish Court. The judge investigating the five people for an alleged crime against the crown, Fernando Andreu, decided to order the arrest after those activists who are now to be prosecuted refused to testify by videoconference last Wednesday. This case fuels once again tensions between the radical left pro-independence CUP and the governing cross-party list ‘Junts Pel sí’ (JxSí) over the action of the Catalan Police Force. Indeed, CUP has already announced it will request the resignation of the Catalan Minister for Home Affairs, Jordi Jané, for allowing Mossos d’Esquadra to be subordinated to the Spanish courts.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, has summoned the members of the National Alliance for the Right to Self-Determination to meet on the 23^rd of December to start organising the referendum on independence. The summit, in compliance with the resolutions adopted at the general policy debate in October, will be chaired by Puigdemont and the President of the Parliament, Carme Forcadell. As sources close to the presidency have told the Catalan News Agency, the meeting will be held in the Parliament just after it has given green light to the 2017 budget. The aim of the meeting is to find political and social consensus around the organisation of the referendum to be held next September 2017. According to the Spanish Government spokesman, Iñigo Méndez de Vigo, the meeting is a “symptom of unilateralism”, resulting from requests from “the radicals of the CUP”.

The Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) wants to internationalise the pro-independence process in Catalonia from the local sphere. It has therefore launched a campaign to explain the pro-independence process, the roadmap to achieve independence and the Catalan Government’s will to hold a referendum in September 2017. In an interview with the Catalan public radio station, Catalunya Ràdio, the president of the organisation, Neus Lloveras, detailed that the intention of the initiative is to report on the pro-independence process, avoiding the filters of Spanish diplomacy and amplifying the message of the Catalan local sphere worldwide. AMI started to send letters to the mayors of all the state capitals and the 100 largest cities in the world on Monday. In total, the organisation predicts that 548 mayors from five continents will receive a letter explaining the Catalan reality “without interference from Spain”.

The Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat) has been invited by the Electoral Commission of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to observe the early parliamentary elections that will take place on Sunday. A team of eleven observers trained in international electoral observation, who are currently following the final days of the election campaign and the preparations for the vote in the regions of Skopje, the Northeast, the Southwest, and Pegalonia. On Sunday they will observe the actual vote itself, the vote count, the compiling of the results, and the final announcement of the results. This is not the first time that Catalonia’s Public Diplomacy Council sends an observation mission to another country; recently, in October, they travelled to Morocco and so far they have also been present at elections in Uruguay, Costa Rica and Armenia.

The pro-independence referendum in Catalonia, expected to take place in September next year, may be accelerated depending on Spain’s attitude towards Catalonia. “If the Spanish Government accelerates decisions against the Catalan institutions, we should find a solution somehow”, Catalan Vice President and Minister for Economy and Tax Office, Oriol Junqueras stated this Friday. In an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, Junqueras also admitted to “not having a clue” whether Spain’s executive will offer a political solution for Catalonia soon and lamented that the supposed willingness to dialogue expressed by the Spanish Government started by proceeding with the prosecution against Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, for allowing the Chamber to debate on independence.

15 British MPs from different political parties presented an ‘Early Day Motion’ this Thursday to the House of Commons to express their “concern” about the prosecution of the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell. The document, promoted by Scottish National Party (SNP) MP, George Kerevan, warns that Forcadell “could be subject to debarment from public office” for “allowing a parliamentary debate” and believes that “regardless of the constitutional legalities involved” the situation is not only “regrettable” but also “sets a dangerous precedent”. Therefore, the signers urge the Spanish Government “to reconsider the prosecution” and find “a resolution to its disagreement with the Catalan Parliament through mutual dialogue”. In a press statement, Kerevan also describes the controversy as “a clear case of free speech” and feels that the trial “would only create ill-feeling in Catalonia”.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) MP, George Kerevan, invited the delegate of the Catalan Government to the UK and Ireland, Sergi Marcén, to explain Catalonia’s current situation to a group of British MPs. The meeting, which took place on Tuesday at Westminster, aimed at giving information to the MPs regarding the independence debate going on in Catalonia and, mainly, the Catalan Government’s wish to hold a referendum on independence. “We did not tell them about [Catalonia’s] independence, but about the referendum process”, Marcén explained in an interview with the Catalan News Agency. According to Marcén, “the democratic tradition” of the UK is “so powerful” that the “most surprising” thing for British MPs is “the lack of a negotiating table” with Spain to “reach an agreement and hold a referendum”.

The Mayor of the Catalan capital, Ada Colau, is the fifth-most influential person in Europe for 2017, according to ‘Politico’. “The future of Spain could well rest on [Colau’s] shoulders”, foresees this renowned publication and notes that “with a referendum on Catalonia’s independence on the cards for next year”, Colau’s condition as a “popular, outspoken and independent leader gives her a powerful voice”. However, ‘Politico’ emphasises that Colau’s “vague” position regarding Catalonia’s independence, which according to the publication is “the hottest issue in the region”, “may be hard to maintain” and predicts that “she will not be able to avoid choosing sides as the debate heats up”. The ranking of the 28 most influential people for 2017 also include London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan, who tops the ranking, and other personalities such as Turkey’s President, Recept Tayyip Erdogan and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini.

The so-called ‘operation dialogue’ launched by the Spanish executive aims for Spain’s executive to have a greater presence in Catalonia. In line with this purpose, Spanish Vice President and recently named Minister for Territorial Administrations, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, travelled to Barcelona this Wednesday. However, despite having committed to holding a meeting with her Catalan counterpart, Oriol Junqueras, Sáenz de Santamaría hasn’t even made a date for such a meeting. On the other hand, she met first with the opposition’s leader, Inés Arrimadas and with the Catalan Socialists’ leader, Miquel Iceta. The Catalan Government’s spokeswoman, Neus Munté, considered it “surprising” but “congratulated” Saénz de Santamaría for her “initiative” especially after the Spanish executive’s “enormous absence” in this sense. “Confrontation and using the courts have been the only answers so far”, lamented Munté.

The cross-party coalition 'Junts pel Sí' (JxSí) and the pro-independence radical-left CUP entered in the Catalan Parliament’s register a motion to defend the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell. The representative is facing criminal liability for allegedly disobeying Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) rulings and allowing the pro-independence roadmap to be put to vote on the 27th of July. According to the text presented by the pro-independence parties, the prosecution of Forcadell “for any parliamentary action flagrantly infringes upon parliamentary inviolability”. Furthermore, the proposal highlights that the criminalisation of parliamentary activity “poses a serious threat to democracy”. The motion was entered into the Parliament’s register on Monday as an urgent extraordinary request and with the express request to debate it in a plenary session. The text also aims at defending “the freedom of expression and the right of initiative of the members of the Catalan Parliament”.

At least a dozen Catalan City Councils will open their doors on the Spanish Constitution Day, on Tuesday the 6th of December. In addition, in almost 300 cities, such as Barcelona, the councillors of pro-independence parties will work, although City Hall will remain closed. Besides this, different protest and solidarity activities will also take place throughout Catalonia, following the recommendations of the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI), the promoter of the initiative. The organisation sent a manifesto to the elected members of the City Councils so they can read it in front of the municipal offices this Tuesday at 12 pm (CET time). The text deems the Spanish Constitution a “corset” and “a prison for democracy” that “impedes the Catalan people from freely deciding their political future”. The symbolic opening comes just two months after Spain’s National Day festivity, on the 12th of October, when several City Councils decided to open the municipal offices.

The laws for “disconnecting” Catalonia from Spain will not become effective unless the ‘Yes’ to independence wins the 2017 referendum. The spokesman of radical left pro-independence CUP’s national secretariat, Quim Arrufat, said in an interview with the Catalan News Agency that “no step forward will be made unless it is supported through the ballot boxes”. According to Arrufat, all the disconnection laws (the Legal Transition, the Catalan Tax Office and the Social Security System regulations) will have a clause that will impede them from entering into force if the ‘No’ to independence achieves a majority in the referendum. The politician focused on the legal transition law, which foresees the process for the Autonomous Community of Catalonia to become an independent state. He specified that the regulation will be applied in two steps, as part of the law will have to become effective before the referendum in order to call it even if the Spanish Government blocks it. The other clauses would only come into force in case of a pro-independence majority in the referendum.

The legal services of the State Attorney are already “studying” the impugnation of the Catalan Government’s draft budget for 2017, which includes an allocation of €5.8 million to guarantee that the independence referendum scheduled for September will be carried out. The announcement was made on Wednesday by the delegate of the Spanish Government in Catalonia, Enric Millo, who stated that this part of the accounts “could be challenged” in the near future by the Spanish state. Furthermore, Millo believes that the allocation could be annulled by the Spanish Constitutional Court, which may consider it to derive from the Declaration of the 9-N symbolic vote, which has already been declared unconstitutional. The delegate of the Spanish Government in Catalonia believes that this budget “doesn’t contribute” to the relationship between the Catalan Government and the Spanish one. However, he reiterated his “outstretched hand for dialogue” and confirmed he will be meeting with the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, this Friday.