Government doesn’t dismiss unilateral referendum on independence if “internationally homologated"

Barcelona (CNA).- Catalan Government Spokeswoman, Neus Munté expressed the “absolutely unitary” position of the Catalan Government regarding the roadmap towards independence, which according to Munté is still “in force”. However, she didn’t dismissed the possibility of holding a unilateral referendum on independence as long as it would have “total democratic legitimacy” and “international homologation”. Munté’s statements arrived after the possibility of a unilateral referendum on independence was raised by some Catalan parties in the last few weeks and moved into the Spanish electoral campaign’s spotlight. Still, Munté insisted that it will be necessary to wait for the 26^th of June Spanish Elections’ result and for an eventual referendum proposal from the Spanish executive.

“We don’t give up on the pro-independence roadmap but we are open, of course, to listening to all those options which would go in the same direction”, stated the Catalan Government Spokeswoman. One of these options is a unilateral referendum on independence, a possibility which has been in the focus of the political debate in the last weeks, especially since mention of it coincides with the beginning of the electoral campaign for the Spanish Elections, which will take place on the 26^th of June.

Munté made the government support for this option conditional on it having “total democratic legitimacy” and “international homologation”. She also remembered that the most similar experience to a binding referendum held in Catalonia was the 9-N consultation, which she emphasised was a symbolic vote because all the other possibilities of holding a real referendum were frustrated.

Still, Munté urged all parties to wait for the Spanish Elections results and see if the Spanish executive makes any proposal to hold a referendum in Catalonia. She emphasised that the Catalan Government has always been willing to discuss the possibility of celebrating a referendum if the Spanish State proposes it.

Pro-independence roadmap still “in force”

In her press conference this Tuesday, Munté wanted to emphasise that the pro-independence roadmap agreed between pro-independence forces cross party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and CUP is still “in force”, despite the latter vetoing the draft budget for 2016. The Catalan Government’s position on this is “absolutely unitary”, she stated.

Last week, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont stated that the agreement between ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP, through which the latter committed “not to vote the same way as those forces who don’t support Catalonia’s pro-independence roadmap when the parliamentarian stability is at risk” was broken due to CUP’s veto on the budget. According to Puigdemont, this marked “a turning point” and forces the executive of ‘Junts Pel Sí’ to rule in minority from now on, with only the 62 MPs from the cross-party list present in the 135-seat Catalan Chamber. 

In a similar vein, Catalan Government spokeswoman, Neus Munté, warned that CUP’s decision “will have consequences” and accused the radical lefties of not fulfilling the agreement.

However, soon after Puigdemont announced that he will submit to a vote of confidence after this summer (since the current government doesn’t have “guaranteed stability”, CUP MP Mireia Boya said that the pro-independence forces should “rebuild bridges”, adding that the anti-capitalists felt “responsible but not guilty” for the current situation.

Indeed, the first to raise the possibility of holding a unilateral referendum, which is now being considered, was CUP.