icv-euia

The Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Òmnium Cultural, which are the civil society associations that organised the massive pro-independence demonstrations in 2012, 2013 and 2014, have given their support to the alternative consultation vote proposed by the Catalan Government but on the condition of early elections taking place within the next three months. On Sunday, the ANC and Òmnium gathered 110,000 people (according to Barcelona local police) in Catalunya Square, three times more than the pro-Spanish-unity demonstration that took place in the same place a week earlier. In front of a pro-independence crowd, the two civil society organisations demanded unity of action from the parties supporting self-determination. They called for "a massive mobilisation" in the alternative participatory process of the 9^th of November, being "the first round" of the early elections, which should become a 'de facto' referendum on independence.

After the cancellation of the original consultation vote scheduled for the 9^th of November, parties are preparing for hypothetical early elections, transformed into a de facto referendum on independence. The parliamentary stability alliance between the governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU and the opposition left-wing Catalan independence party ERC is seriously damaged. This affects the approval of the Catalan Government's budget for 2015 and a potential electoral alliance in such a plebiscite on independence. CiU, formed by the Liberal CDC and the Christian-Democrat UDC, and social-democrat ERC were the three main parties within the pact for the consultation vote scheduled. As preparations for the 9^th of November would have required breaking Spanish law, tensions between them were raised. After the pact was broken, there have been efforts to work together again on different fronts, while UDC is looking for new allies.

The new self-determination process announced this Monday by the Catalan President is not shared by the majority of parties supporting the previous consultation vote, although they also said they will not boycott it. The left-wing parties supporting the previous vote are hoping that the Catalan Government will reconsider its new proposal and "come back to the consensus" around the initial plans. In Madrid, the Spanish Government will wait to see the "black and white" of the new proposal in order to decide whether to appeal against it or not. However, the Spanish Justice Minister warned that if the alternative vote is also about independence, "it would have the same vices of unconstitutionality" and would be taken to the Constitutional Court for its suspension. After hearing Mas' new proposal, the People's Party (PP) affirmed that Catalonia's "independence process has ended". Furthermore, Spanish nationalist parties asked for Mas' resignation and early elections.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, ruled out the consultation vote already called for the 9^th of November and agreed upon among a majority of Catalan parties, in face of the opposition from the Spanish authorities. However, he announced an alternative "participatory process" on that same day, in which 20,000 volunteers throughout Catalonia will run the polling stations, located in Catalan Government venues, and people would register just before voting. Mas believes that this new vote does not openly challenge the Spanish authorities' ban, while it is an alternative way to vote on the 9^th of November, as promised. However, he also admitted that such a process is not comparable to a proper referendum and stated that "the definitive referendum" would be early Catalan Parliament elections, where parties would transform it into a plebiscite on independence. The first reactions have been sceptical, both in Barcelona and Madrid.

Parties supporting the self-determination vote scheduled for the 9^th of November have met on Monday in Barcelona to discuss whether to carry on the consultation vote as is currently planned or to launch an alternative, in view of the total opposition from the Spanish authorities. According to two parties present at the meeting, the Catalan Government has ruled out the organisation of the consultation as it has been proposed by the decree that has been temporarily suspended by the Constitutional Court. Instead, the Catalan Government has proposed organising a “participatory process” on the same day, using the legislation that has not been suspended by the Spanish authorities. This alternative will be disclosed on Tuesday morning by the Catalan President, Artur Mas. The Spanish Government has already said it will also appeal against such an alternative. The left-wing Catalan independence party ERC has announced it will not back such an alternative and proposes a unilateral declaration of independence.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, has organised a meeting with the parties supporting the 9^th of November's consultation vote on independence in order to agree the next steps to be followed after the Constitutional Court's temporary suspension. They have agreed to keep the 9^th of November's call but, at the close of this edition on Friday evening, they had debating during the whole day on how to guarantee a legal and democratic vote. The meeting was supposed to end at lunchtime, but it has carried on until the evening and participants do not rule out the possibility of continuing discussions over the weekend. A wide range of political parties, representing 65% of the Catalan Parliament (ranging from the Christian-Democrats to the Alternative Left), have to decide whether the 9^th of November's call will be kept until the end or if they will call for early elections within a few days, with or without the possibility of forming a national unity government.

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 9^th 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 3^rd (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 8^th place (2.1%).

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.

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.

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 9^th 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.

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 9^th 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.

The Constitutional Court has accepted the Spanish Government's two appeals filed on Monday against the 9^th 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 7^th 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".

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

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, will finally sign the decree calling the 9^th 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 7^th of October, but an extraordinary session could be organised this week.

The Law on Consultation Votes, which will be used to call the non-binding consultation vote on independence scheduled for the 9^th 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.