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71% of Catalans want to hold the 9th of November independence consultation vote

October 3, 2014 08:40 PM | ACN

Another opinion poll has shown that a wide majority of Catalans want to hold a self-determination vote to determine their relation with Spain. This time, the question was not a general one but it specifically asked about the 9th of November's consultation vote, which the Spanish authorities completely oppose. Despite the controversy and Madrid's attempts to block it, 70.8% of Catalans would back November's vote, while 22.9% would oppose it. Moreover, the left-wing independence party ERC would win the next Catalan elections with 19.8% of the votes, while the governing centre-right pro-Catalan state coalition CiU would come in second place (13.1%) and the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) would be 3rd (5.8%). The largest group of voters are the undecided (23%) and 10.4% would abstain. The People's Party (PP), running the Spanish Government, plummeted to the 8th place (2.1%).

Catalan President signs decree appointing members of consultation vote’s Control Commission

October 2, 2014 10:15 PM | ACN

On Thursday, the day after the Catalan Parliament elected the members of the electoral body that should control the development of consultation votes in Catalonia, including November’s independence consultation, the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, signed the decree appointing the new members. Mas made this step the day before meeting with parties supporting November’s vote to reach an agreement on the new steps to be taken. Spain’s Constitutional Court temporarily suspended the law and the decree on which November’s vote is based. The suspended law was regulating the creation of this Control Commission but the Catalan Parliament’s legal services argued that its members could be elected, as it did not have a direct effect. With the decree, Mas ratified this election, but included an ambiguous clause regarding its validity.

Catalan Parliament approves one of the world’s most pioneering laws against homophobia

October 2, 2014 10:04 PM | ACN

A sweeping majority of the Catalan Parliament has approved a new law recognising the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people and persecuting homophobia and transphobia. The new law includes fines for homophobic behaviour at the work place and positive discrimination measures, such as having to prove one’s innocence if accused of homophobia (a measure already in place for those accused of domestic violence against women). 80% of the Catalan Chamber has backed the new law and the conservative and Spanish nationalist People’s Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government, was the only group who voted against the bill, which was filed by 4 left-wing opposition groups. The centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, which runs the Catalan Government, split its votes, as the largest Liberal party CDC completely backed the law and the smallest Christian-Democrat party UDC voted against specific articles, although it did not oppose the entire measure.

Catalan Parliament elects Control Commission for consultation vote and PP threatens to bring MPs to justice

October 1, 2014 08:46 PM | ACN

Based on a report from its legal services, the Catalan Parliament has elected the 7 members of the Control Commission that will supervise the development of the 9th of November's consultation vote on independence. This decision comes the day after Catalan authorities temporarily suspended the direct preparations for November's self-determination vote following the Constitutional Court’s decision to temporarily suspend the law and the decree on which they are based. However, a majority of the Parliament argue that electing the Control Commission would not be a direct action as it does not have any effect, according to the legal services report and previous sentences from the Constitutional Court. However, parties against November's consultation refused to participate in the Parliament's vote. On top of this, the People's Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government, threatened to take the MPs who elected the Commission to justice.

Catalan authorities appeal against the suspension of self-determination vote but stop direct preparations

September 30, 2014 09:17 PM | ACN

The Catalan Government and Parliament will file allegations against the Constitutional Court's temporary suspension of the Law on Consultation Votes and the decree calling November's self-determination consultation vote. The temporary suspension was approved on Monday evening and entered into force this Tuesday morning. Despite the appeal against the Constitutional Court's action, the Catalan Government has decided to "temporarily" suspend the institutional campaign and direct preparations for the 9th of November's consultation vote on Catalonia's political future. The Spokesperson of the Catalan Government and Minister for the Presidency, Francesc Homs, explained that such a decision was made "to prevent public employees from being backed into a corner", as the Spanish authorities could persecute them.  The left-wing parties clearly supporting independence – ERC and CUP – want to disobey the Court's temporary verdict, but the governing and centre-right CiU as well as the greens and post-communists ICV-EUiA want to continue with the vote's preparations wherever legally possible. In addition, thousands of people are demonstrating in front of Catalonia's town halls against the Constitutional Court's decision.

Constitutional Court temporarily suspends Catalonia's self-determination consultation vote

September 29, 2014 10:09 PM | ACN

The Constitutional Court has accepted the Spanish Government's two appeals filed on Monday against the 9th of November's self-determination vote decree and the Catalan Parliament's law on which it is based. This decision automatically means the temporary suspension of the law and the decree, a suspension which could be extended after 5 months should the Court not have yet reached a definitive verdict. In addition, it also suspends "the rest of actions" deriving from the law or the decree's implementation, including those taken "by third parties". The decision has been made in an urgent and non-scheduled plenary meeting, which was organised just 5 hours after the Spanish Government had filed the appeals. The Constitutional Court's plenary never meets on Mondays and its next meeting was scheduled for the 7th of October. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, has criticised "the supersonic speed" by which the Court has met. Mas asked this body to act as "the referee of all and not only of a part".

"I haven't been a corrupt politician", states former Catalan President Jordi Pujol but doesn't answer questions

September 26, 2014 10:51 PM | ACN

Jordi Pujol, who chaired the Catalan Government for 23 years between 1980 and 2003, has given further explanations about his fiscal fraud confession to the Catalan Parliament but he has not answered the manifold questions from the MPs. Furthermore, Pujol was visibly angry over some accusations launched by Spanish nationalist parties and alternative left MPs. There had been a lot of expectation for this parliamentary hearing for the person who used to lead the centre-right Catalan nationalism from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, who confessed at the end of July that his family had been storing money in tax havens for the last 34 years without informing tax authorities. In the current political situation of tensions between Catalonia and Spain, with many corruption scandals emerging and with millions of people suffering from the hard effects of the economic crisis, Pujol's confession ignited the atmosphere. On top of this, the former Catalan President had referred on many occasions to the merits of hard work

Catalonia to call self-determination vote on Saturday and Madrid to appeal it on Monday

September 26, 2014 09:49 PM | ACN

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, will finally sign the decree calling the 9th of November's self-determination vote on Saturday, a week after the Catalan Parliament approved the Law on Consultation Votes with 80% support. Mas will sign the decree surrounded by most of the leaders from the parties supporting November's vote and after having received the explicit support from 92% of Catalonia's municipalities. Besides, the Spanish Government will hold an exceptional Cabinet meeting on Monday (instead of waiting until Friday) to approve the two appeals against the new Catalan law and decree. The appeals will be filed to the Constitutional Court, whose plenary has then to decide whether it accepts them or not. If the Court accepts the appeals, the law and the decree will be temporarily suspended. The next Court's plenary is on the 7th of October, but an extraordinary session could be organised this week.

Catalan Parliament approves law to be used for self-determination consultation vote with 80% support

September 19, 2014 10:08 PM | ACN

The Law on Consultation Votes, which will be used to call the non-binding consultation vote on independence scheduled for the 9th of November, has been approved by 79% of the Catalan Parliament, with the only opposition being from Spanish nationalists People's Party (PP) and Ciutadans (C's). This bill was already foreseen in the 2006 Statute of Autonomy, Catalonia's main law after the Constitution, but it had not been approved yet. Now, once the law is published on Catalonia's Official Journal (DOGC), the Catalan President will immediately sign the Decree calling November's vote. The Spanish Government announced last week it already had two appeals ready to be filed to the Constitutional Court – even though the definitive law had not been approved yet. If the Constitutional Court accepts the appeals, it will immediately suspend the Catalan Law and the Decree for a 5-month temporary period, which could be extended until it reaches a final decision.

FC Barcelona aims to get nine points in seven days

September 19, 2014 09:34 PM

This is going to be a key week for FC Barcelona as they will have three Spanish League matches in seven days. From Sunday 21st September through Saturday 27th, Luis Enrique's squad will have nine points in play, the same number of points that were on the table through the entire first month of the season. Barça is set to visit Levante (Sunday 21), Malaga (Wednesday 24), and then host Granada (Saturday 27). FC Barcelona won't have to play three Liga matches in one week again until the month of April, when they will have to do it not once but twice. From now until then Barça's midweek schedule is loaded with other competitions, namely the group stage of the Champions League and the Spanish Cup.

Two-third majority of Catalan Parliament reaffirms its commitment with November 9 independence vote

September 17, 2014 09:59 PM | ACN

A two-third majority of the Catalan parliament has approved a motion supporting the self-determination consultation vote, scheduled on the 9th of November, which has to take place "with all the possible democratic and participation guarantees". With this resolution, parties have reaffirmed their commitment to carry out this vote, which will very likely be banned by the Spanish authorities in the coming days. The parliamentary text has been approved with the support of 89 MPs of the 133 representatives who voted (since 2 were ill), a 66.9% majority. The resolution has been approved with the votes of the governing centre-right pro-Catalan state coalition CiU (which brings Liberals and Christian-Democrats together), the left-wing Catalan independence party ERC, the Catalan green socialist and post-communist coalition ICV-EUiA and the alternative and radical independence party CUP, as well as with 3 votes from rebel MPs of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC). The rest of the PSC, the People's Party (PP) and Ciutadans (C's) have opposed the motion.

Left-wing independence party ERC requests to join Catalan Government to protect self-determination vote

September 16, 2014 09:37 PM | ACN

The left-wing independence party ERC asked the Catalan President to join the Government "in order to protect the [self-determination] consultation vote" scheduled on the 9th of November. The Catalan President, Artur Mas, stated that they will talk about it in the coming days to strengthen the unity around November's vote. In addition, the Catalan Socialist party (PSC) also asked Mas to talk to them if the Constitutional Court ultimately bans the consultation vote. The People's Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government, accused Mas of promoting "a soft dictatorship" in Catalonia. The green-socialist and post-communist coalition ICV stated they want a consultation vote with "credibility". The Spanish nationalist and populist C's said that Mas' time is finished and asked for early elections. Finally, the alternative left and radical independence party CUP advocated ignoring Spain's institutions and voting on the 9th of November by any means.

Opposition parties file two requests to launch parliamentary investigations into Pujol's fraud

September 3, 2014 09:58 PM | ACN

As it was announced on Tuesday, all the opposition parties except the Catalan Socialists (PSC) have filed requests to create investigation committees at the Catalan Parliament as a result of the fiscal fraud confessed by the former President of Catalonia, Jordi Pujol, and other offenses he or his entourage could have allegedly committed. Two requests were filed separately on Wednesday morning, one presented by left-wing parties supporting self-determination (ERC, ICV-EUiA and CUP) and the other presented by the two Spanish nationalist parties (PP and C's). The first one aims to check whether there have been cases of "fraud, fiscal evasion and political corruption […] in the context of Pujol's case" and "in the context of public-private contracts […] during the last decades". The second one aims to scrutinise "the existence of bank accounts in fiscal paradises owned by current or former officials of the Catalan Government, their illicit gain and/or the earning of illegal commissions".

Pujol accepts to give explanations to the Catalan Parliament but he will do it after the 22nd of September

September 2, 2014 08:27 PM | ACN

On Tuesday, as it was expected, the Catalan Parliament has approved to request that the former President of Catalonia, Jordi Pujol, provides the Chamber with further explanations about his family's fiscal fraud which he confessed to in late July. The request has been unanimously approved, including by the governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, which was led by Pujol for three decades. The former Catalan President has accepted to appear in front of the Parliament despite it not being "obligatory", as he noted down. However, he asked to do it after the 22nd of September "in order not to interfere" with the self-determination process and "the high political voltage events" of the coming days. The opposition parties supporting self-determination are angry with Pujol's delay and will ask for a parliamentary investigation committee to be launched.

Latin America left-wing parties support Catalonia's self-determination vote scheduled in November

August 29, 2014 09:27 PM | ACN

The final declaration of the 2014 São Paulo Forum, which brings together around 100 left-wing parties from Central and South America each year, has demonstrated explicit support for Catalonia's self-determination vote, which is foreseen for the 9th of November. The XX Encuentro del Foro de São Paulo, which took place in La Paz (Bolivia) between the 25th and the 29th of August, gathered together most of the parties that are now running the governments of Spain and Portugal's former colonies in Latin America. The support statement was proposed to be included by 3 Catalan parties: the left-wing independence party ERC, the Catalan green socialist party ICV and the radical left and independence party CUP.