Catalan Government committed to referendum despite Spain's suspension of budget
The Catalan Government admitted its outrage at the decision made by the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) to temporarily suspend the budget which includes allocations for calling a referendum in September 2017. Nevertheless, Catalan Government spokeswoman, Neus Munté, insisted that the roadmap towards independence remains unchanged. “In the same way that our commitment [to calling a referendum] is unwavering, we also remain committed to opening a dialogue, speaking about and negotiating for what the majority of our citizens want,” she said to the press. On Tuesday the TC accepted the suit presented by the Spanish Government which claimed that those line items in the 2017 Catalan budget related to calling a referendum this September were illegal. Rajoy’s Executive also wants Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and the other members of the Catalan Government to be personally notified of the suspension as well as the penal consequences of ignoring it.
Barcelona (CNA).- The Government’s commitment to a referendum in September this year “is unwavering,” said the Catalan executive’s spokeswoman, Neus Munté. She made this statement after learning of Spain’s suspension of the referendum line items from the budget. “We are well aware of the intention of generating generalized suspicion regarding this Government’s actions and we won’t accept that,” warned Muntéand admitted they were “outraged”by the decision. “It's offensive, but we're keeping calm”she added and insisted that the suspended items “are perfectly legal”. “We must analyze the entirety of the sentence from both a legal and political perspective,” she concluded.
In particular, the TC suspended two line items: one establishes €5 million for electoral processes and €0.8 million for participation and the other refers to the possibility of calling a referendum with or without the Spanish State's permission.
“Faced with the suspension of these budget items, we will defend ourselves, since our understanding is that they are perfectly legal,” stated Munté. However, she noted that the executive “must analyze the entirety of the sentence from both a legal and political perspective”.
She insisted that the referendum will take place, since the majority of the Catalans want to resolve the current political deadlock between Catalonia and Spain at the ballot boxes. A commitment which “is unwavering”as is the willingness to “opening a dialogue, speaking about and negotiating for what the majority of our citizens want”, she emphasized.
The 2017 Catalan budget was passed two weeks ago thanks to the votes of the pro-independence parties in the Parliament: governing coalition Junts Pel Síand radical-left CUP.
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