The National Pact for the Referendum doesn't take a position on a unilateral vote

The National Pact for the Referendum (PNR) executive committee, a group of eight people which has coordinated the body during the last six months, has dissolved. The body made the decision public after this Tuesday’s meeting, in which they decided how to assess Spain’s refusal to come to an agreement on a referendum on independence. Although the board has considered its work to be over, the aim is not for the PNR to disappear but rather to become a “forum for debate” since it represents the broad spectrum of pro-referendum supporters, the PNR’s executive committee’s spokesman, Joan Ignasi Elena, said.

“The referendum unites us around a ballot box, which is transparent, clear and clean”, he added. Insisting on this unity, the PNR decided not to take a stance in favor or against a unilateral referendum. Polls suggest that up to 80% of Catalans are in favor of a referendum, something that the PNR exemplifies with its more than 3,000 members from civil society, business, cultural, sports and political organization.

According to Elena, “the PNR has broaden the consensus in favor of the referendum” and has proven that, “far from dividing, the referendum unites”. "The PNR does not support nor reject any option" on how to organize the vote because "it doesn't take a stand" on this, he added.

“The PNR decided to gather support in Catalonia, Spain and abroad to hold a referendum on independence and it was a task limited in time”, said Elena. He also emphasized that the PNR would continue beyond its executive committee and therefore “it is still alive and has to be convened every time the political situation requires so”.