The Spanish Government has reacted as expected and it has filed two
appeals at the Constitutional Court against the Law on Consultation
Votes, approved by the Catalan Parliament with an 80% support, and the
decree based on this law calling a self-determination consultation vote
on the 9th of November, which was signed on Saturday morning.
Mariano Rajoy himself has held an extremely unusual press conference to
announce the decision, which has also been approved an exceptional
Cabinet Meeting, organised 4 days earlier than usual. Rajoy, who only
faced 3 questions – none of which asked about his no-to-everything
attitude and his responsibility for the current situation, did not wait
for the Constitutional Court's verdict and stated that the measures
approved in Catalonia were "unconstitutional" and "antidemocratic".
Rajoy said they are "a severe attack" against "the unity of Spain" and
"the rights of all Spaniards", insisting on the "indissoluble unity of
the Spanish nation". He stressed that "national sovereignty belongs to
all the Spaniards", "to the Spanish people as a whole" and that a part
of it – Catalonia – cannot decide for everybody.
Rajoy ignores Catalonia's nationhood
Therefore, Rajoy does not consider that Catalans have the right to
decide on their own collective future, because he does not consider
Catalonia to be a nation and to be sovereign. In fact, the full
recognition of Catalonia's nationhood is at the core of the problem,
since the 1978 Spanish Constitution partially recognises it when it
states in Article 2 that Spain is formed of "nationalities and regions".
This formula was a compromise during the transition to democracy with
the forces of Franco's Spanish nationalist and military dictatorship in
order not to derail the process and to partially recognise Catalonia's
nationhood status. In order to balance this, the military imposed the
inclusion of the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation" expression.
Catalans massively voted for the Constitution with the implicit promise
that, once democracy was consolidated in Spain, Catalonia's nationhood
would finally be fully recognised. However, the opposite has happened.
In 2010, the Constitutional Court emphasised the "indissoluble unity of
the Spanish nation" in its verdict against the Catalan Statute of
Autonomy, which outraged Catalans. In addition, Rajoy referred solely to
this expression that was imposed in 1978 by the most reactive sector of
Franco's military dictatorship but has ignored that Spain is "formed of
nationalities and regions", therefore ignoring Spain's plurinational
nature.
Rajoy has already decided the Catalan measures are unconstitutional
According to Rajoy, the Catalan Government asking the opinion of
Catalans citizens on Catalonia's political future through a non-binding
consultation vote is "not compatible with the Constitution". The Spanish
PM stated up to 10 times that the Law on Consultation Votes and the 9th
of November vote were "unconstitutional", without waiting for the
Constitutional Court's verdict on the issue. In fact, the Spanish
Government has been saying the same for the last few months and it
already announced in early September that the appeals against the
Catalan measures were "ready", despite the fact that the Catalan
Parliament had not yet approved the law and that the Catalan President
had not signed the decree and therefore its exact wording was unknown.
The Catalan measures are "harming the rights of all Spaniards"
Rajoy stated that it is "false" and "demagogical" to say that "the
right to vote and decide" can be "unilaterally" used by an Autonomous
Community – Catalonia – and "denied to the rest of the nation". "It is
demagogical to refer to something that sounds good, such as the right to
express oneself or to be heard", he said. "The problem is that who are
putting these arguments upfront are actually denying this right to those
who are legally entitled to use it, which is the whole of the Spanish
people", Rajoy added. The Spanish PM accused the President of the
Catalan Government "of stealing from the rest of Spaniards" their
"right" to decide on Spain's destiny. According to Rajoy, the Spanish
Government cannot do anything but file these appeals, since it cannot
trade with "the national sovereignty", which "belongs to all the Spanish
people as a whole".
Rajoy says he is "open to talk, but always within the law"
The Spanish PM stated that "there is still time" to honour the law
and obey the Constitutional Court's verdict – which at the time has not
decided to even accept the Spanish Government's appeals since they had
not even been filed. He insisted that the Spanish Government is
"defending the Law, which it is not a restriction against freedom but a
guarantee of equality and security for all". "Contrasting the law and
democracy is unacceptable", because "there is no democracy without laws,
neither is there respect for the citizens or for politics". Rajoy said
that "the Law is the expression of the majority's expression" and that
"the Constitution can be changed", but using the foreseen mechanisms.
However, he did not say that in those two years he has been blocking any
debate on reforming the Constitution. Paradoxically, Rajoy said that he
is always "willing to talk" and "open to set a dialogue", but "always
within the Law".
Rajoy accused the Catalan Government of "carrying out a policy of
accomplished facts", by "unilaterally" adopting a series of decisions
towards the organisation of the self-determination vote without the
approval of the Spanish Government. The Spanish PM presented the facts
as the Spanish Government always being willing to talk but the Catalan
authorities carrying out their own agenda and later on "·pretending that
the Spanish Government will be forced to find a solution to unilateral
decisions which are impossible to share". However, he also admitted that
"there has never been a real possibility" to reach an agreement with
the Catalan Government. "When a part goes against the legal framework
and the interests of all, it cannot be the [Spanish] Government's duty
to find a half-way point for reaching an agreement", Rajoy added.
Finally, he stated that the Catalan President will be "the person in
charge" of the consequences of this process, which are "the unfair
delegitimisation of democratic institutions and breaking the fraternity
bonds that have united Catalonia and the rest of Spain during all our
common history". In addition, the current situation will bring a great
"frustration" to "a part of Catalonia's citizens, who have been
encouraged to participate in an initiative that cannot see the light,
because it is illegal".
The Catalan Government warns against making "the greatest mistake in Spain's democracy"
A few hours before the Spanish Government was to file the two
appeals, the Catalan Minister for the Presidency, Francesc Homs, warned
Rajoy that this action would a "major political error", which will
strengthen the self-determination process. Homs said that with the
temporary suspension of the Catalan law and decree, "the game will not
be over", on the contrary. Those supporting independence will be more
convinced, according to the Catalan Minister. He advised the Spanish
Government and the Constitutional Court to be extremely "careful" with
their decisions, as they risk making "the greatest mistake in Spain's
democracy".
