The Spanish Parliament's Board, controlled by the People's Party
(PP) – which holds an absolute majority and runs the Spanish Government,
decided to group all the petitions, including the Catalan Parliament’s
one, to hold a single debate on the issue on the 8th of
April, before the European Elections campaign. The agreement to speed up
the parliamentary debate was reached between the PP and the Spanish
Socialist Party (PSOE) on Tuesday evening. Both parties are totally
against independence and the organisation of a self-determination vote
in Catalonia. In addition, they reject negotiating the way to make such a
vote possible.
Speeding up the debate is in the interest of all parties
By speeding up the debate, the PP and PSOE are aiming to give a
strong and clear negative answer to the Catalan petition, also sending a
powerful political message before the European Elections, particularly
targeting the Spanish nationalist voters. Spanish nationalists are
urging the PP and PSOE to adopt strong measures against Catalonia's
self-determination claims in order to end a debate that outrages them
and to guarantee Spain's unity.
However, the decision to speed up the debate is also in the interest
of CiU, ERC and ICV, which support the organisation of a
self-determination vote on the 9th of November. The soonest
CiU, ERC and ICV obtain a definitive "no" from the Spanish authorities
to the formula to transfer the referendum powers – similar to the
procedure used in Scotland, the soonest they can launch a Plan B. This
alternative would firstly consist in approving Catalonia's own
Consultation Vote Law, which is not yet in place but was already
foreseen in the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, approved in 2006 by the
Spanish Parliament and the Catalan people through a binding referendum.
If the Spanish Government stops this Plan B by taking the new
Consultation Vote Law to the Constitutional Court, a second alternative
would be launched, although parties do not want to speculate on it.
Rejecting the consultation vote is rejecting "the voice of a people"
The Vice President of the Catalan Government, Joana Ortega, was satisfied with the date of the 8th
of April. She considered that it was not positive to keep delaying such
a debate. In addition, she was also in favour of debating all the
petitions at the same time. However, the CiU politician directly sent a
message to the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (who is also the PP
leader) and to the Secretary General of the Spanish Socialist Party
(PSOE), Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba. Ortega stated that if the Spanish
Parliament finally rejected the petitions, they are neither opposing
"the plan of Artur Mas [the Catalan President] nor the Government's
plan", but "they will be denying the voice of a people". Furthermore,
the CiU Spokesperson at the Catalan Parliament, Jordi Turull, asked the
PP and the PSOE "not to be afraid of democracy". He asked them "to dive
within the Catalan reality" because they will discover that "Catalans
want to vote". Turull will be representing CiU at the Spanish Parliament
when the petitions will be debated.
The ERC has chosen its Secretary General and Spokesperson at the
Catalan Parliament, Marta Rovira, as its representative to defend the
petition in Madrid. Furthermore, the ERC's President, Oriol Junqueras,
will be Rovira's substitute. The ERC Spokesperson in the Spanish
Parliament, Alfred Bosch, asked Rajoy to "switch on the green light" for
Catalonia's self-determination. Bosch also urged the Spanish PM to
negotiate the terms to hold such a legal vote in Catalonia, instead of
repeating that such a vote is illegal according to his interpretation of
the Constitution. "We always cross with a green light and if you do not
change the red light, we will find a pedestrian crossway", said the ERC
MP. "On the 9th of November we will go to vote in a calm, serene and legal way, because voting is not illegal", Bosch concluded.
The ICV has not yet decided who will be representing the party in
Madrid's debate. However, the ICV National Coordinator, Dolors Camats,
stated they were "satisfied" with the date chosen (8th of
April) because the debate will be held "as soon as possible". Camats
insisted they wanted to hold this debate at the Spanish Parliament,
because they were convinced there was enough time to do so before the 9th
of November, considering that the petition was sent in mid-January. In
addition, the ICV welcomed that all the petitions have been grouped and
will be debated at the same time, since "it shows the political will" of
all the groups supporting Catalonia's self-determination. In addition,
Camats disclosed that Izquierda Plural group at the Spanish Parliament,
which is formed by Izquierda Unida (IU) and ICV, will vote in favour of
transferring the referendum powers.
More on
The Spanish Parliament will debate transferring to Catalonia the powers to organise referendums (by ACN)
