referendum

In an interview with ACN, the Head of the EU Foreign Policy Unit of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Steven Blockmans argued that “the European Union or the United Nations could play this role” if “both parties, including Madrid, voluntarily accept it”. Besides, Blockmans explained that Catalonia’s and Scotland’s self-determination processes and the possibility that they become independent states “is being debated” in Brussels circles, and it is even mentioned “often”. In addition, he also stated that if Madrid agrees, “a summit would be enough” to take “the political decision” to allow an independent Catalonia to become an EU Member State.

However, the participating political parties could not agree on a plan to organise a self-determination vote: some would like to combine the organisation of the vote with the creation of state structures while others ask for neutrality and refuse to identify self-determination as a solution to Catalonia’s economic crisis. The President of the Catalan Government and leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), Artur Mas, called for a summit to discuss ways to obtain the right to self-determination and be able to organise a referendum on this issue. All the parties supporting self-determination, including the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), participated in the meeting, as well as the Catalan Government, the four Provincial Councils and representatives from town halls.

The CIS – the Spanish Government’s public opinion survey institute – has indicated that 55.1% of Catalans would like a Catalan state, either independent from Spain (33.7%) or within a federal Spain (21.4%). 29.4% would like to keep the Autonomous Community model and 12.1% would back recentralisation and Catalonia being a Spanish “region”. The survey was taken between September and October but the results were only released recently in early May, more than half a year later. In addition, 65.1% of the interviewees said they wanted more power for the Catalan Government.

In an official visit to Brussels where the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, met with three Commissioners, he recognised that the European Union institutions view Catalonia’s self-determination “with great respect” but they have “some concerns” about “the potential independence” from Spain. Mas emphasised that Catalonia is too significant and relevant “not to be taken into account”. Therefore, the EU “is interested in providing Catalonia with stability” and to “not turn their backs on the Catalans’ majority public opinion”. Mas celebrated that at an international level “instead of closing the door, they listen to us”, which “is different” to the Spanish Government’s attitude.

The leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, and the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, secretly met on Sunday in Madrid, along with the Secretary General of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), Pere Navarro. Mas urged the PSOE to include the People’s Party (PP) in the debate on the reform of the Spanish Constitution and he warned that including the right to a self-determination vote is a “basic and essential condition” for a large majority of Catalans. The PSC, despite opposing Catalonia’s independence from Spain, backs its right to vote for self-determination, but Rubalcaba is completely opposed to it and considers it to be “impossible” to ever reach an agreement on such a vote. However, Rubalcaba insisted on the need to find a better relationship between Catalonia and Spain, in order to “remain together for centuries to come”.

Artur Mas, the President of the Catalan Government and leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), is sceptical about the Spanish Executive’s desire to find a negotiated solution regarding Catalonia’s self-determination claims. 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”. However, he insisted that public finances are in “an emergency situation”. 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”.

“The United Nations respect self-determination processes” stated the Secretary General of the United Nations when he was asked about Catalonia’s and Scotland’s self-determination processes during his official visit to Andorra, a small independent country in the Pyrenees which has Catalan as its official language. Ban Ki-moon urged all the political leaders to talk and find a negotiated and peaceful solution. “All the pending issues among countries have to be solved via peaceful means and through dialogue, respecting the genuine will of the affected people”, he stated. As opposed to the United Kingdom’s Government, the Spanish Executive currently refuses to even talk about Catalonia’s self-determination claims, which are backed by November’s electoral results and recent opinion polls.

The Catalan Parliament has approved the same declaration that the Spanish Parliament rejected 2 weeks ago with 104 votes out of the 135 MPs. The text urges the Spanish and Catalan governments to talk and agree on the organisation of a legal self-determination vote in Catalonia. The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) presented the proposal, which also received the votes from the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) – which runs the Catalan Executive, the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) and the Catalan Green Socialist and Communist Coalition (ICV-EUiA). The radical left-wing and independence party (CUP) abstained. The People’s Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government, and the anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans (C’s) opposed the vote.

Earlier this week the Director of the Public Prosecution Office of Catalonia, Martín Rodríguez Sol, was pushed to resign by his boss at a Spanish level, who is directly appointed by Spain’s Government. Rodríguez Sol said in an interview that it was “legitimate” to “allow the people” to decide on their collective future regarding Catalonia’s self-determination process. However, he emphasised that he was not supporting an independence referendum as such because “it does not fit into the current legal framework”, but he suggested that a “legal vote” could be held with the appropriate question being asked. He also stated that legal frameworks should be connected to social realities and should have the option to be changed. On Thursday six members of the European Parliament, representing four Catalan parties, filed a question to the European Commission about the case.

The boss of all public prosecutors in Spain, Eduardo Torres-Dulce – appointed by the Spanish Government – announced on Monday that he is starting the process to dismiss his subordinate, Martín Rodríguez Sol, for having said in an interview on Sunday it was “legitimate” that a majority of citizens ask to vote on Catalonia’s political future, although “within the legal framework”. Rodríguez Sol believes that it is not possible to organise an independence referendum as such although he said that with the appropriate question, a legal self-determination vote could be held. He also stated that the legal framework should be adapted to social changes. The Catalan President, Artur Mas, has accused the Spanish Government “of having little democratic sensibility”. In addition, Mas reminded everybody that last week another army general threatened with a military intervention in Catalonia “and nothing happened” but if an attorney general says that people should “express themselves within the legal framework”, he is fired.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, accused the Spanish Government of “not having the true will to talk” about Catalonia’s self-determination claims, backed by democratically-expressed ballots. After the weekly Cabinet Meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, confirmed that the Spanish Government will take the Catalan Parliament’s declaration, which states that the Catalan people are sovereign to freely and democratically decide on their collective future and therefore organise a self-determination vote, to the Constitutional Court. The Spanish Government justified its decision by stating that the declaration – with no direct legal impact – might have legal consequences and wants the Court to “clarify that the Catalan people are not sovereign”.

For the first time since 1982, the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) has voted differently to the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), to which is federated. The PSOE is opposing Catalonia’s self-determination right and voted against the petitions urging the Spanish Government to engage in talks with the Catalan Executive in order to allow the organisation of a self-determination referendum in Catalonia. The Catalan Socialists oppose Catalonia’s independence from Spain but they back Catalonia’s right to self-determination and thus they supported the petitions. As an anecdote, the PSC MP Carme Chacón refused to back the petitions, as she is in the running as a candidate to lead the PSOE. The petitions were finally rejected by 78% of the Spanish Parliament, mostly from the People’s Party – which runs the Spanish Government and holds an absolute majority in the Chamber – and the PSOE, apart from the PSC.

The latest political poll issued by the Catalan Survey Centre (CEO), published every three months, shows that 54.7% of those interviewed would vote “yes” in an independence referendum, while 20.7% would vote “no” and 17.0% would abstain. Three months ago, the “yes” option was backed by 57% of the interviewees while in February 2012 it was only backed by 44%. Besides, 46.4% of citizens would support an independent Catalan state as their first choice, which represents an increase of 2.1 percentage points in three months and a 17.4 point increase in one year. 22.4% would prefer a federal Spain, 20.7% the current situation and 4.4% Catalonia being a region within a more centralised Spain.

Following a report by its own legal services, the Spanish Government is considering appealing against the ‘Declaration of sovereignty and the right to self-determination by the people of Catalonia’, approved by the Catalan Parliament two weeks ago. This declaration states that, following the historical rights and the free self-determination of the people, the people of Catalonia are sovereign and therefore able decide on their own future and organise a self-determination vote to decide on Catalonia’s hypothetical independence from Spain. The Catalan President stated that, before the self-determination right of the people, “there are no rules, laws, constitutions or possible interpretations”.

The association’s People’s Rights Commission defends the celebration of a referendum and the unilateral independence declaration if the Spanish Government insists in not allowing a citizen vote on the issue. While is it true that the current Spanish Constitution does not allow for a self-determination referendum, the Barcelona lawyers' association argues that “in a democratic society, the law should be the expression of the people’s choice”, and therefore it should be modified accordingly to allow the referendum. It also highlights that 20 of these states are the result of secession, such as Norway, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia or Montenegro.