Catalan President tells all Government Ministers and Directors that self-determination vote will take place

Barcelona (ACN).- The President of Catalonia, Artur Mas, held an exceptional meeting on Monday evening with all the Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Directors of the Government he chairs in order to prepare for the coming weeks, which are crucial in the self-determination process. Mas told the 200 people present about "his certainty" that "there will be a consultation vote, that he will call it and that people will vote", summed up Francesc Homs, Minister for the Presidency and Spokesperson for the Executive, at the end of the meeting. The President asked the people present to be "committed" and play "a leading role" within the self-determination vote instead of being "mere spectators or commenters", since "the country is ready". "Obviously this [the self-determination vote] is an operation including the entire country, and a lot of people, but the Government is also part of it in a very essentials way, and he asked us to honour this in such decisive times", added Homs. Furthermore, according to the Minister, Mas told them to face the coming weeks with "a moral of victory", since there is an extremely wide majority of Catalans who support the organisation of a self-determination vote (between 75% and 80% according to all polls), regardless of whether they would vote for independence or not.

As he already did in September 2013, ArturMas met with the 200 most important people of the Government he chairs to present to them how he sees the coming political year and what are the main guidelines of the governmental action for the next few months. It is the second time that such a meeting has taken place but it is still an exceptional measure, particularly considering the weeks coming ahead.

On the11^th of September, which is Catalonia's National Day, the world will be looking at Barcelona and the massive pro-independence demonstration that will be organised in the afternoon. A great participation is expected but Spanish nationalist are hoping to see far less people than in the massive demonstrations also organised on that day in 2013 and 2012, when 1.6 million and 1.5 million respectively called for Catalonia's independence from Spain. Next week's citizen mobilisation will be a crucial force in paving the way towards the self-determination vote, scheduled on the 9^th of November, which the Spanish Government aims to stop.

In addition, in mid-September, the Catalan Parliament will approve the Law on Consultation Votes, which will be the legal tool to call the self-determination vote and organise it in November. The Spanish Government has already announced it is preparing an appeal to the Constitutional Court against the vote, even though the bill has not yet been approved and therefore Spain's Executive does not know the definitive wording of the Law. Based on this new legislation, the Catalan President will issue a formal call to organise the self-determination consultation vote on the 9^th of November. The call will very likely be issued immediately after the Law enters into force. Furthermore, the Spanish Government has announced an appeal against this call to ensure the Law is not temporarily suspended in advance by the Constitutional Court. Then, the Court might ban the self-determination vote as a cautionary measure until it reaches a definitive verdict on the Catalan Law on Consultation Votes and the vote call.

In front of all this, a few days ago the Catalan President said that his intention is to call for the self-determination vote anyway. In addition, he said that any important decision regarding the consultation vote will be agreed among the parties that support such step, which represent two thirds of the Catalan Parliament. However, Mas' statement came after a number of weeks when members of the Government he chairs and the coalition he leads, the centre-right pro-Catalan State CiU, had voiced in public the diverging opinions about the self-determination vote and the convenience to organise it if the Constitutional Court bans it. On top of this, these diverging opinions popped up again a few days after Mas had clarified the line they would be taking. Now, at the start of the political year and at the edge of a crucial period, the Catalan President wanted to clarify things and strengthen the Government's cohesion and coherence.