The Catalan President insists on talking to the Spanish Government about the self-determination claims

Barcelona (ACN).- On the occasion of the first 100 days of his second term in office, Artur Mas, the President of the Catalan Government and leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), gave a press conference and insisted on holding talks with the Spanish Government about the self-determination claims wanted by the majority of Catalan citizens. However, Mas admitted he is sceptical about the Spanish Executive’s desire to find a negotiated solution as they are “at the Antipodes”. Asked about the possibility of giving up the self-determination agenda in exchange for more economic resources for the Catalan Executive, Mas stated that “the Spanish Government will not exchange a better fiscal scheme for the self-determination vote”. He said he was basing his belief on the reactions of presidents from other Autonomous Communities. However, Mas insisted that Catalan public finances are in “an emergency situation”, as so it is Catalonia’s self-government. Therefore, he offered again for the Catalan Independence Party (ERC) and the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) to sit in the Cabinet because “the situation requires adding strength” in order “to guarantee the survival of Catalonia’s self-government”. Mas and the CiU have been sending several messages since the last November elections indicating the need for a great coalition government, formed by the main Catalan parties. The opposition parties reacted in a divided way, although no party announced it would join the Government. The ERC “urged” him to talk to the Spanish Government to organise the self-determination vote. The PSC asked him to totally switch his political priorities. The rest of the parties criticised the Catalan Government for the economic situation.

“An emergency situation” due to four main reasons

The Catalan President gave a two-hour press conference on Wednesday, answering questions from journalists, in which he made an assessment of the political situation and the 100 first days of his second term in office. He also defined the current priorities of the Government he chairs. Mas stated that “not only the Catalan Government but the country” is in “an emergency situation”, since “Catalonia’s self-government” is at risk. Mas explained that the Catalan Government’s finances are in “an emergency situation”, due to a set of “accumulative reasons”, the first one being the “chronic fiscal deficit”. In fact, Catalan citizens receive much less in services and investments than the amount raised by their taxes, due to an unfair fiscal redistribution decided – with scarce transparency – by the Spanish Government. Official calculations show that Catalans give away an average of €17 billion per year, corresponding to some 8.5% of Catalonia’s GDP, to pay for services and investments in other parts of Spain. Meanwhile, the Catalan Government is under-budgeted and the Spanish Executive does not invest the necessary amounts to keep basic infrastructures in Catalonia up to date, such as the short-distance train network.

Furthermore, Mas added a second reason: the money that the Spanish Government refused to transfer to the Catalan Government and invest in Catalonia despite being legally obliged to do so, according to the current fiscal scheme regulation. The Spanish Executive gives the economic crisis as an excuse, but the law does not oblige to invest an absolute amount but a percentage of the total investment. Meanwhile, the Spanish Government allocates funds for billionaire investments in other parts of Spain, such as the High Speed Train to Galicia.

In addition, Mas underlined the “tombstone” left by the previous Left-Wing Cabinet, with billions of euros of delayed payments to fund investments, being the third reason. Between 2003 and 2010, the Catalan Government was run by a three-party coalition, formed by the PSC, the ERC and the Catalan Green Socialist and Communist Coalition (ICV-EUiA). Back then, many infrastructures were built, in part to compensate for an historical lack of investments – mostly by the Spanish Government. However their payment was split into many years and delayed in time. In addition, the debt levels were raised. These past decisions currently represent that the Catalan Government already has part of its annual budget reserved for paying for the delayed payments and debt interest.

Lastly, Mas insisted on the “arbitrary deficit targets” imposed by the Spanish Government, which have obliged them to undertake severe budget cuts. In fact, with the current 0.7% deficit target for 2013, the Catalan Government would be obliged to undertake a €4.4 billion adjustment in a single year representing around 16% of the Catalan Executive’s budget. Mas explained that they are carrying out “an offensive” to modify the current deficit targets and relax them, in order to guarantee “a fairer, more loyal and more correct” internal distribution of the deficit objectives within Spain’s public sector. In fact, in the last few weeks the Spanish Government has already given signs of being willing to relax such targets, but only if the European Union gives more room to the entire Spanish public sector.

“The [self-determination] vote has to be organised”

Mas insisted that the self-determination “vote has to be organised because, from a democratic perspective, it is obvious”. In this vein, he insisted that the priorities of the government he chairs have not changed; “the Government’s course has not been deviated”, he stated. In the last Catalan elections, which took place in November, the parties supporting the organisation of a self-determination vote obtained 80% of the seats in the Catalan Parliament. In addition, Mas underlined the fact that supporting Catalonia’s right to self-determination does not mean supporting its independence from Spain and the two things “should not be confused”. Therefore, as Catalan President, he has the electoral mandate from Catalan citizens to work towards organising such a vote, and this means talking to the Spanish Government about it. “The Catalan Government has the obligation to talk” to the Spanish Executive, stated Mas. “It may be that, despite the talks, we do not reach an agreement, but at least we would have tried”, he said.

Further “discrete meetings” with the Spanish Prime Minister to be held

The Catalan President also explained the secret meeting he and the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, held last week in Madrid. Mas explained that both politicians agreed to hold further “discrete meetings”, away from the media and political pressure. Mas explained that they did not reach an agreement regarding Catalonia’s self-determination. However, he said it was positive that they had talked about it. In this vein, he insisted on his desire to continue talking in order to convince Rajoy of the need to find a negotiated solution enabling the self-determination vote. According to Mas, this vote could be organised in the current legal framework if the Spanish Government wanted it to happen. “There are the legal mechanisms to do it”, he said. “If the Spanish Government wanted to, it could  know the opinion of Catalonia’s citizens”, he said. However, Mas emphasised the fact that both governments are “at the Antipodes” regarding this issue.

The need for a ‘Great Coalition’ Catalan Government

Furthermore, Mas insisted on his offer for the ERC and the PSC to sit in the Catalan Government. “Our formula is based on government going beyond the CiU”, he said. In this sense he asked the main Catalan parties to have a greater political implication regarding the “complex” political scenario, with the economic crisis, the survival of Catalonia’s self-government and self-determination process. Mas emphasised that the offer is “permanent” and he said he will continue to insist.

The opposition reaction divided

The opposition parties reacted in a divided way. The ERC “urged” the Catalan Government to talk to the Spanish Government to organise the self-determination vote before Madrid completely “closes the door”. In addition, the ERC said that this week they will start to talk to the Catalan Government regarding this year’s budget. The PSC asked Mas to rethink his policies and “undertake a Copernican turn” with his priorities. The PSC considered that Mas is implementing a “division strategy regarding the national” debate, which is “very damaging”. The People’s Party (PP) – which runs the Spanish Government – thought that CiU “has been losing time in what brings Catalans to a dead-end […] for 100 days”. In addition they are asking for a complete change of direction and to prioritise the recovery from the economic crisis. The Catalan Green Socialist and Communist Coalition (ICV-EUiA) accused the Catalan Government of not honouring their transparency and economic commitments. In addition, they accused Mas of “losing precious time” and not organising the self-determination vote. The anti-Catalan nationalism and left-wing Ciutadans (C’s) asked Mas to resign because he “has failed” in “all his priorities” and he is “the symbol of division” between Catalans. Finally, the radical left-wing and pro-independence CUP warned that if the self-determination vote is not organised, the Catalan Government will be “a mockery”. They also accused Mas of being “Angela Merkel’s local manager” and they lamented his “prioritisation of austerity policies”.