referendum

CSQP (Catalonia Yes We Can), a left-wing coalition in favor of holding a referendum but not necessarily independence, says it will support a unilateral referendum if it has international guarantees. CSQP’s spokesperson, Joan Coscubiela, said that the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe's institution in charge of these kind of processes, has to endorse the referendum before his party can support it. Governing cross-party pro-independence coalition Junts Pel Sí celebrated this stance, saying the group “has taken a step forward” by joining those that consider the celebration of a referendum in Catalonia even if it is “without Spain’s permission”.

Spanish diplomats tried to pressure the moderator of an event with former Catalan president, Artur Mas, in Brussels. The correspondent from the French newspaper Libération, Jean Quatremer, admitted on Tuesday that when he agreed to present the event with the former Catalan president, he received some “news from Madrid”. “They called to ask me why I had accepted, and if I was sure about what I was getting into, and obviously I was,” said the correspondent, stressing that he is not in favor of independence. During the conference, Mas defended the demands for a referendum in Catalonia and said regretfully that “the only” dialogue that the Spanish state offers to the Catalan people is with “the judges”.

Two of the members of the Swiss Parliament delegation who visited Barcelona last week understand that Catalonia will organize a unilateral referendum if the Spanish state continues in its opposition. The Swiss parliamentarians, Socialist Mathias Reynard and Christian-Democrat Yannick Buttet warn that the Spanish Government’s rejection of dialogue pushes Catalonia towards a unilateral independence referendum and that it is “reasonable” for the pro-independence parliamentary majority to fulfill its democratic mandate. “I am not saying that it is the best solution, but I understand the Catalan Government’s stance,” said Reynard. “What will be essential from a foreign point of view, is participation. We need to know how many Catalans vote, if the referendum is organized in a unilateral way,” added Buttet.

The entire Executive, led by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and Catalan VP, Oriol Junqueras, reiterated its commitment to “organize, call, and celebrate” a referendum on Catalonia’s independence and apply its results, despite Spain’s “threats and attempts to limit Catalonia’s self-government,” said Puigdemont. In a symbolic event held in the iconic ‘Pati dels Tarongers’ courtyard, at the Catalan Government headquarters, the executive aimed to send a clear message of unity regarding its determination to fulfill the democratic mandate of the 2015 27-S Catalan elections, which led to a pro-independence majority in the Parliament. The celebration of a referendum is one of the Parliament's main goals.

All the members of the Catalan Government, led by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and Catalan VP, Oriol Junqueras, will attend an official event on Friday to reiterate their commitment to calling a referendum. The initiative also aims to spread a message of unity among the pro-independence political parties which form the governing coalition, Junts Pel Sí. Indeed, in the last few weeks, some discrepancies between the Catalan Democratic Party (PDeCAT) and the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) regarding how to carry out Catalonia’s pro-independence roadmap have been used by the main opposition parties to question the Government’s stability and its commitment toward the referendum.

Catalan VP, Oriol Junqueras, said the Government will unilaterally declare independence if it is blocked from calling a referendum in September. According to Junqueras, this possibility already forms part of the electoral program of governing coalition, Junts Pel Sí. “Technically it is called the unblocking clause,” explained Junqueras in a conference with Columbia University Professor, Xavier Sala i Martin, and added that it was included in Junts Pel Sí’s platform in the event that the Spanish State block the referendum. Nevertheless, Junqueras insisted that he is convinced that the referendum will be called, that it will take place, and that the pro-independence supporters will win it.

The Catalan Government believes that the communiqué published by the US Embassy in Spain in relation to Catalonia was “a request of the Spanish Government motivated by the success of Puigdemont’s recent meetings with US representatives”. Puigdemont’s agenda in the US included a private meeting with former US President, Jimmy Carter, after which the institution said in a memo that “neither he nor The Carter Center could be involved” in the negotiations for the referendum. The Catalan executive told the CNA that the US Embassy's statement, published only in Spanish, which described Catalonia’s push for independence as an internal matter of Spain, “shows that the Catalan question is part of the political and diplomatic agenda and therefore is not an internal matter”.

Catalan VP, Oriol Junqueras, insisted this Wednesday on the pro-independence parties’ commitment to calling a referendum this September. He underscored the unity within the group despite the fact that some representatives from the main parties within the governing Junts Pel Sí coalition had expressed differing positions regarding how the referendum should be carried out.  While pro-independence left-wing ERC’s Marta Rovira announced that a task force of unemployed persons could be organized to carry out referendum-related tasks, the Catalan Government’s Spokeswoman, Neus Munté, said this was a decision that “is not part of the Government’s plans”. “We are all committed to the referendum and we are going to do it together,” said Junqueras, playing down the disagreement.

The Spanish Constitutional Court officially notified the Catalan Government about the suspension of the referendum allocations in the 2017 budget on Tuesday. The Court warned the Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and all the members of his government about the criminal consequences of disobeying the suspension. “We will keep going,” responded Puigdemont in a tweet, which included a picture of the five Court notifications that he has received so far against the plans for a referendum. The Catalan Government spokeswoman, Neus Munté, confirmed that the executive will appeal the suspension on the grounds that the organization of “electoral and participatory processes” is a competence “recognized” by the Catalan Statute, the organic law that defines the powers of the Catalan government.

The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) accepted this Tuesday the suit presented by the Spanish Government which claimed that those line items in the 2017 Catalan budget oriented toward calling a referendum this September were illegal. The magistrates, which met in an extraordinary session to address only this matter, unanimously agreed to suspend these budget items for a period of 5 months, which could be extended if necessary. Rajoy’s Executive also wants Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and the other members of the Catalan Government to be personally notified of the suspension as well as the penal consequences of ignoring it. In particular, the TC suspended two line items: one establishes €5 million for electoral processes and €0.8 million for participation and the other refers to the possibility of calling a referendum with or without the Spanish State's permission.

The Catalan budget for 2017, which includes an allocation of €5.8 million to carry out the referendum on independence which the Government committed to call next September, has been taken before the court. The Parliament’s legal services already warned on the day the bill was passed that by doing so the chamber could be ignoring the TC. Indeed, the Spanish body called to impede or block any initiative emerged from the pro-independence declaration of the 9-N, which was already suspended.  The pro-independence parties in the Parliament, governing cross-party ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP backed the bill, which besides considering the referendum, it allocates €17.8 billion to social expenditure. The main parties in the opposition, Spanish Unionist Ciutadans, Catalan People’s Party (PP) and Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) announced this Friday that they will join the Spanish Government’s initiative and present an appeal to the bill.

Latest polls say 50.3% of Catalans want to call a referendum on independence regardless of whether the Spanish Government agrees. Indeed, if both parts fail to reach an agreement and the consultation takes place anyway, 43.3% would vote ‘yes’ to Catalonia’s independence. Another 22.2% would vote ‘no’ and 20.7% would abstain, according to the latest poll by the Center for Opinion Studies (CEO). In response to whether they would like to simply like referendum to be held in Catalonia, 73.3% of the surveyed answered ‘yes’. The CEO also noted that governing coalition Junts Pel Sí would win the Catalan elections again if they were held today. However, their influence in the parliament would decline from the 62 current MPs to 58 or 60. The other main pro-independence party in the chamber, the radical-left CUP, would also lose 2 MPS.

The pro-independence parties in the Catalan Chamber, governing cross-party ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP have passed the 2017 budget. The bill has been described as the last budget of the autonomic period, since it foresees calling a referendum on independence next September. Last June, CUP refused to pass the bill for 2016 which led to the vote of confidence promoted by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont. They considered the numbers presented then to be “too autonomic” rather than responding to the pro-independence aspirations of Catalonia. After a new draft was presented last November, increasing the social expenditure and reinforcing the government’s commitment to call a referendum, CUP have accepted the bill. However, they have urged the Catalan Government to announce the date and the question of the referendum as quick as possible.

‘Let dialogue win, let the ballot boxes decide,’ reas the title of the joint editorial this Sunday in Spain’s principal daily, El País, written by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and Catalan Vice President, Oriol Junqueras. The Catalan leaders lamented Madrid’s “direct opposition” to putting out the ballot boxes and warned Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy, that the referendum will take place in 2017 no matter what. “We won’t give up on this right. We will do whatever it takes to allow the Catalans to vote on a referendum this year,” they state. “We are already at the negotiating table. Is anybody else coming?” they asked rhetorically. Puigdemont and Junqueras also invited the Spanish Government to learn from the United Kingdom’s example and praised its attitude towards the Scottish demand to hold a referendum.

Former Catalan President, Artur Mas, former Catalan Vice President Joana Ortega and former Catalan Minister for Education, Irene Rigau have received severe fines and have been banned from public office for allowing the 9-N symbolic vote on Catalan independence in 2014. “It’s a matter of regret,” Scottish MEP Alyn Smith, from the Greens/European Free Alliance group told the CNA who lamented Spain “dealing with democracy through the court”. “I find it wrong,” said European Conservatives and Reformists Group MEP Ian Duncan and admitted he was “deeply troubled” by the decision. Co-Chair for the Greens/European Free Alliance, Philippe Lamberts, lamented “the stubbornness of the Spanish authorities toward Catalonia” and insisted that Madrid’s attitude “is making dialogue nearly impossible”.