CATALONIA -- Catalan President to Spanish PM: "set a day and a time" to talk and present a Constitutional reform - VilaWeb

Catalan President to Spanish PM: "set a day and a time" to talk and present a Constitutional reform - VilaWeb:

 Catalan President to Spanish PM: "set a day and a time" to talk and present a Constitutional reform

PP Secretary General María Dolores de Cospedal told Mas in reply that they are not willing to put forward a Constitutional Reform.

 

The day after the Spanish Parliament's debate about Catalonia's
self-determination vote, the President of the Catalan Government, Artur
Mas, asked the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, to "set a day and a
time" to start talking about a negotiated way out of the current
political situation. Yesterday Catalan representatives explicitly asked
for the same thing in Madrid, stressing their offer "to talk about
everything", including the organization of a self-determination vote. In
addition, in the Government control session at the Catalan Parliament,
Mas urged the People's Party (PP) – which runs the Spanish Executive –
to present the Constitutional reform that Rajoy mentioned on Tuesday
during Wednesday's debate. The Catalan President also deplored the fact
that a reform of the Spanish Constitution had been fast-tracked in 2011
following instructions from Germany, but now there is no reform
following the demands from Catalonia. The Secretary General of the PP,
María Dolores de Cospedal, answered Mas by saying that he is the one who
has to present such a reform since he is the one who wants to change
the current legal framework.

The Catalan President also insisted
that the self-determination process carries on despite yesterday’s
negative answer, and that alternative legal frameworks will be used at a
Catalan and international level to allow citizens to vote on November
9th. This is the date agreed by a majority of Catalan parties in
December 2013, when they also decided the exact question wording. In
yesterday's debate, some Catalan representatives said that this time and
exact question could be discussed. However, what is not up for
discussion is Catalonia's national status and its right to
self-determination. The preferred option is to hold the vote in a way
that will have been previously agreed with Spanish authorities. However,
if Spanish authorities refuse to even talk about it and block any
negotiation on the issue, a majority of Catalan society will not accept
this obstructionist strategy and will find other legal frameworks to
express their will peacefully and democratically. This was the
democratic mandate from the last Catalan elections, where almost 80%
voted in favor of parties supporting the right to self-determination and
the organization of a legal vote.

The day after the big debate in the Spanish Parliament about
Catalonia's right to hold a self-determination vote, the Catalan
President was asked about it during the regular control session at the
Catalan Parliament. The Catalan leader of the PP, Alícia
Sánchez-Camacho, criticized Artur Mas for not having participated in
yesterday's debate and not being the one to put forward the Catalan
demands. Mas decided not to attend the Madrid debate since the
self-determination process is not his personal plan but a plural process
backed by many political parties, trade unions, business associations,
and NGOs. In addition, the specific motion debated in the Spanish
Parliament was a bill sent by the Catalan Parliament and approved by
almost two-thirds of the Chamber asking to exceptionally transfer to the
Catalan Government the powers to organize a self-determination
referendum in Catalonia. The petition was rejected by 86% of the Spanish
Parliament. Catalan representatives, using a thorough legal
argumentation, argued that a self-determination vote did fit into the
Constitution and therefore it was not a legal but a political problem.
"It is a matter of political will," they stated in Madrid on numerous
occasions.

The PP asks Mas "to rectify"

Sánchez-Camacho told Mas to "note down" yesterday's result and
"rectify and call Mr. Rajoy to start a loyal, sincere, and democratic
dialogue within the Constitution framework". The PP Catalan leader asked
Mas to "respect democracy and the Constitution", pointing out that he
is President of Catalonia thanks to this law. She also lamented the
"painful process that Catalan citizens who feel Spanish are going
through". "You are making us feel as strangers in our own land," she
added.

Mas replied that the PP is "afraid of a referendum" because they
think they will lose it. In addition, he repeated once again that he is
willing to meet with Rajoy. "If the problem is the phone, I have no
problem in making the call, although the phone also works in the other
direction," he said. In this vein, the Catalan President publicly asked
Rajoy "to set a day and a time" to start talking. The same thing was
requested repeatedly by Catalan representatives speaking before the
Spanish Parliament.

Mas asks the PP to present a Constitutional reform

The Catalan President also asked Rajoy and the PP to put forward
their own reform of the Constitution, since they believe this text does
not allow for holding a self-determination vote. According to the
interpretation of the legal text, backed by many experts including
'fathers' of the Constitution – such as Miquel Roca and Herrero de Miñón
– a non-binding consultation vote would be possible. After this vote,
which would be used to find out the opinion of the Catalan people,
political negotiations could start. However, the PP is insisting that
the Constitution does not allow such a vote in any possible way. In this
vein, Rajoy said yesterday that the only way is making a Constitutional
reform. On Thursday, Mas asked Rajoy to present such a reform.

In addition, Mas lamented the fact that the Spanish Constitution
cannot be reformed following the demand from a large majority of Catalan
society although reform was fast-tracked in 2011 following the demands
from foreign powers. "Constitutional reform would be also better off
German, than Catalan?" asked Mas. The Catalan President was referring to
the words of the former President of the Madrid Region, Esperanza
Aguirre – which leads the regional PP –, when Barcelona-based company
Gas Natural was about to buy Madrid-based Endesa. Back then, Spanish
nationalism was frontally opposed to this business operation and after a
few months, the German company E-on also bid. At that time, Aguirre
said "better German then Catalan" referring to Endesa's ownership.

The PP will not put forward the Constitutional Reform

The PP's Secretary General, Maria Dolores de Cospedal, told Mas in
reply that they are not willing to put forward a Constitutional Reform.
Instead, Cospedal stressed that it is Mas' job to start such a process.
"If Mr. Mas wants a Constitutional Reform, he has to present it
himself", she said. Furthermore, she criticized the Catalan President's
"attitude" of asking Rajoy to set a day and a time, since Mas was absent
from yesterday's debate. Cospedal insisted that the Spanish PM made it
very clear that he was open to talk, but only about things which fit
within the Constitution.

 

Artur Mas, President of Catalonia