CATALONIA -- Catalan News Agency - Spain’s Constitution reform referendum would not invalidate a previous Catalan self-determination vote

Catalan News Agency - Spain’s Constitution reform referendum would not invalidate a previous Catalan self-determination vote

Spain’s Constitution reform referendum would not invalidate a previous Catalan self-determination vote

CNA

Barcelona (ACN).- The Catalan
Executive’s Spokesperson and Minister for the Presidency, Francesc Homs,
has highlighted that the results of a self-determination vote in
Catalonia would not be invalidated by a secondary vote held at Spanish
level. “This is not about putting the Catalan people’s decision-making
capacity in somebody else’s hands”, stated Homs on Friday. The previous
day, Homs had proposed to hold such a referendum at Spanish level since
he was foreseeing the need to adopt Constitutional changes based on the
results of the Catalan self-determination vote. He stated that firstly
“the opinion of Catalans” had to be known; secondly, a negotiation based
on this vote’s results should be held between Catalan and Spanish
authorities; and, thirdly, since it is likely that Constitutional
changes will be needed, a referendum at Spanish level should be held.
However, Homs said that Catalonia is still working to consolidate the
first stage, which is allowing Catalan people to hold a
self-determination vote. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur
Mas, also wanted to clarify Thursday’s statements and insisted that “the
decision on what Catalonia has to be belongs to the Catalans, in the
same way that the decision on Scotland belongs to the Scots”.

“The one that has the sovereignty to decide on its own future is the
Catalan people. An altogether different thing are the conditions to
implement this decision”, explained Homs on Friday morning in a radio
interview for the main privately-owned radio station in Catalonia, Rac
1. The Catalan Minister insisted that once the Catalans will have voted,
a negotiation process will have to start with the Spanish Government.
At the end of this process, it is very likely that Constitutional
changes will be required, according to Homs.

However, Homs insisted that the democratic will of the Catalan people
expressed through the first vote will not be altered. “What cannot be
questioned is what the Catalan people has voted for; the conditions
under which things are being done can be negotiated, but not the
decision taken”, he underlined.

According to the polls it seems that around 80% of the Catalans want
greater self-government powers. Furthermore, around 50% of the entire
Catalan population would support independence according to the polls
published this past year by Madrid-based or Catalan centres (fluctuating
between 47% and 57% depending on the polls and the moments of the
year). Therefore, in the two most likely scenarios, the Spanish
Constitution would have to be reformed: either to allow an agreed
independence or to reform the current state organisation and give
Catalonia greater powers.

Homs pointed out that the motion approved by the Catalan Parliament
in January already foresees a Constitutional change. However, despite
the Constitutional change and the vote at Spanish level, Homs stressed
that the Catalan people’s decision has to be respected. “This is not
about putting the Catalan people’s decision-making capacity in somebody
else’s hands”, he insisted.

The decision “belongs to the Catalans”, stated the Catalan President

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, also expressed
his view on the issue. Mas stated on Friday that “the decision on what
Catalonia has to be belongs to the Catalans, in the same way that the
decision on Scotland belongs to the Scots”. However, in the same vein
than Homs, Mas explained that whether the self-determination vote
reveals that Catalans want a State within Spain or an independent State
from Spain, there will be “talks with Madrid, Brussels, and all the
countries in the world”. To conclude, Mas wanted to insist on the main
idea and added that “the future only depends on the Catalans’ will”.

More on

Artur Mas, Catalan Government, Catalan Independence, Constitutional Amendment, Constitutional Reform, Democracy, European Union, Francesc Homs, Independence, Referendum, Self-Determination, Spanish Constitution, Spanish Government, Vote

 

  

Francesc Homs on Friday in Madrid's Universidad Autónoma (by R. Pi de Cabanyes)