Catalonia Calls Election in Push for Independence from Spain
The Spanish region of Catalonia is to call an election today
which its government hopes will act as a proxy vote on independence.
The Local reportsthat regional president Artur Mas will sign a decree that sets 27
September as Election Day in the hope that his new electoral alliance
can win a majority allowing it to unilaterally declare independence from
the rest of Spain.
The Catalan government has already begun setting up institutions
ready for independence, including a public credit institution that could
become a central bank and potential tax agency.
The move will be bitterly resisted by the Spanish government, with
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy vowing “There will be no independence for
Catalonia”. Several government ministers have raised the possibility of
suspending Catalonia’s regional government in such an eventuality.
However, with nationwide elections due by the end of the year and the
governing conservatives looking set to lose their majority, it is
debatable whether the next Spanish government will be strong enough to
do much about Catalonia.
Rival nationalist parties have set their differences aside for the
vote and formed an alliance called “Junts pel Sí” (Together for Yes),
whose sole aim is to win a majority in the Catalan parliament and then
break away from Spain within 18 months.
During a visit to Barcelona, the region’s capital, last month, Spain’s King Felipe VI gave a coded warning to
Catalan nationalists, saying: “Respect for the law is the source of
legitimacy and an unavoidable requirement for living together
democratically in peace and freedom.”
There are fears that if Catalonia breaks away, or there is a
protracted row over the Spain’s constitutional future, there could be
economic chaos in one of the Eurozone’s major economies, thus adding further pressure on the beleaguered euro currency.
Support for Catalan independence has been dropping in recent months,
but pro-unity supporters are worried the ‘Together for Yes’ camp may win
a majority anyway as their anti-independence rivals are too fractured
and disorganised.
