Parliament approves calling a referendum with or without Spain’s consent

Barcelona (CNA).- The pro-independence forces’ agreement to hold a referendum in Catalonia by September 2017 has been passed by the Parliament. According to the bill the referendum has to be “binding” and based on a “clear” question and a “binary” answer. In the event that ‘yes’ to independence wins, the bill foresees calling constitutive election in March 2018. The document also establishes that “lack of agreement with the Spanish State” is not a reason for the referendum to be rejected. The 72 MPs from governing cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP voted in favour of the proposal while alternative left alliance ‘Catalunya Sí que es Pot’ abstained. The latter handed in a different proposal, which has also been approved by the Chamber, which calls for the holding of a referendum “with real political and legal effects” and launching the necessary initiatives “before the Spanish State”. The main party in the opposition, Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’, refused to participate in the vote, as did the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) and the Conservative People’s Party (PP), considering the proposals to have emerged from resolutions which have been suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC).

 

The bill approved on Thursday by ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and CUP foresees “activating all the legal procedures required” to call the referendum and at the same time “providing it with the legal coverage”. Moreover, the document establishes that before the end of 2016, “a committee to launch, control and execute the referendum will be created”. The Parliament also urges the Government “to immediately call a summit which gathers together all the political forces and social organisations which support Catalonia’s right to self-determination” in order to define the details of the referendum. 

The document also states that the referendum will be called regardless of Spain’s position. Thus, “lack of agreement with the Spanish State” won’t be a reason for the referendum to be rejected.

Elections in March 2018

The proposal also urges the Government to call constitutive elections within six months after the referendum if the ‘yes’ to independence obtains more than 50% of votes. Thus, the deadline for the elections would be March 2018. Although ‘Catalunya Sí que es Pot’ abstained from voting on the proposal to hold a unilateral referendum, they did vote against this particular point.

The other forces in the Parliament, Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’, the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) and the Conservative People’s Party (PP) refused to participate in the voting on these pro-independence bills. They all considered such proposals to have emerged from resolutions which have been suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC).

Commitment to continue negotiating with Spain

The Chamber also passed the ‘Catalunya Sí que es Pot’ proposal to launch the “political and parliamentary initiatives required” before the Spanish State in order to hold an agreed referendum. The 62 MPs from ‘Junts Pel Sí’ supported the bill, together with the 11 representatives from ‘Catalunya Sí que es Pot’. CUP abstained and ‘Ciutadans’, PSC and PP voted against it.