Government to hold event to show unity and commitment to referendum

Barcelona (CNA).- The Government is determined to call a referendum this autumn and no discrepancies among the pro-independence parties will stop it from doing so. This is the main idea that the Catalan executive will defend this Friday in an institutional event to be held in the "Courtyard of the Orange Trees" one of the most iconic locations in the Catalan Government headquarters. Indeed, the different approaches to Catalonia’s pro-independence roadmap expressed by the Catalan Democratic Party (PDeCAT) and Catalan Republican Left (ERC), the main parties within governing coalition Junts Pel Sí, have been used by the main opposition parties to question the Government’s commitment to the referendum. 

The entire Executive, led by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and Catalan VP, Oriol Junqueras, will attend the event, which is set to mark the symbolic start of the referendum campaign. Indeed, a manifesto to support the celebration of a binding consultation may be signed during the event. 

The event will take place a couple of days after the Parliament expressed its support for the President of the Catalan Chamber and the members of the Parliament’s Bureau who have been summonsed for having allowed a democratic debate on independence in the Parliament in 2016.

During the event, President Puigdemont, referred to the motto “You will never walk alone” and invited people to honor it by supporting those prosecuted by the Spanish justice for allowing a pro-independence debate in the Parliament. “When [the Spanish State] tries to ban a whole nation, the citizens should turn this motto into a reality,” he said. In a similar vein, Carme Forcadell insisted on her commitment to fulfilling the Catalans’ aspirations. “Make no doubt about it, we will be at the height of the historic moment we are going through,” she stated. The Parliament President also emphasized her determination “to defend the citizens’ rights and freedoms and ensure the Parliament’s sovereignty”.