Catalan independence movement dealt fresh blow
Catalan independence movement dealt fresh blow
Spanish high court halts plans for September secession vote
Spain’s constitutional court has formally put a halt to plans to hold an independence referendum in the northern region of Catalonia next year, dealing a fresh legal setback to the pro-secession Catalan government.
The interim ruling marks the opening salvo of what is expected to be a fierce legal and political battle leading up to the proposed referendum in September next year. The court acted in response to a request from the Spanish government, which is fiercely opposed to the Catalan independence movement and regards any attempt to hold a plebiscite on secession as unconstitutional.
Leaders of the Catalan independence movement vowed to press on regardless. “The institutions of the [Spanish] state should know that they cannot silence the will of a majority of our people,” said Jordi Sánchez, the president of Catalan National Assembly, the main pro-secession group.
The decision came just days after a separate legal controversy sparked by far left Catalan independence activists, who were filmed burning or tearing up pictures of Felipe VI, the Spanish king. Several activists from the far left Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) were arrested this week after refusing to appear in court in connection with the allegations.
Under Spanish criminal law, slander or defamation against the king is punishable by up to two years in jail.
While the arrests sparked protests in Catalonia, they also triggered a fresh bout of tensions between the Catalan government — which is led by mainstream independence supporters — and the more radical CUP. Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan president, needs the backing of CUP deputies to sustain his majority in the regional parliament. At the same, time, he is anxious for the independence movement not to be associated with a radical fringe.
On Wednesday Rafael Catala, the Spanish justice minister, sought to highlight the Catalan dilemma, saying the court ruling showed the need to find a solution that was not based on “unilateralism”. He added: “By making common cause with radicals, the Catalan institutions will not find any solutions.”
In the case of the planned referendum, Spain’s highest court on Wednesday accepted Madrid’s legal challenge to the plan, which leads to its automatic suspension. The court also issued a warning to the Catalan president and the president of the regional legislature not to undertake any further steps towards holding the vote.
Oriol Bartomeus, a political scientist at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, said: “This will be one long crescendo from here until September. The Constitutional court will say you cannot hold a referendum; the independence movement will say they will press on regardless; and so on.”
Mr Bartomeus suggested the latest rise in tensions served both sides in the political conflict, as the Catalan independence movement was keen to broaden its support and ensure high participation if a secession vote took place, while Spain’s ruling Popular party could use the escalation in Catalonia to shore up the standing of its minority government.
“At the end of the day, this is in the interest of the independence movement but also of the PP, because it obliges other Spanish parties, especially the Socialists, to take the same side,” said Mr Bartomeus.
