catalonia Archives

Catalonia separatist groups win absolute majority

December 22, 2017 by administrator

Catalonia win absolute majority

A coalition of secessionist parties has won an absolute majority in the Catalan regional parliament. The single party with the most seats, however, was the pro-Madrid Citizens party.

Ousted regional President Carles Puigdemont is set to regain power in Catalonia after his Together for Catalonia (Junts per Catalonia) party captured 34 seats in Thursday’s election. Together with the 36 seats of the two other pro-independence parties, the separatists are headed for an absolute majority in the 135-seat regional parliament.

Puigdemont’s bloc had fared slightly better in the last regional elections in 2015, however, when the pro-independence parties earned 72 seats.

The secessionist parties garnered only 48 percent of the popular vote. The pro-Madrid Citizens party won the most seats outright with 37, but will not be able to form as substantial a coalition as the secessionists.

Speaking from exile in Brussels, Puigdemont called the election a victory for the “Catalan Republic” as well as a “slap in the face” to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

“I think we have earned the right to be listened to,” he added.

Karabakh on Catalonia: We welcome ‘civilized self-determination bids’

October 28, 2017 by administrator

Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) welcomes ‘every process of civilized self-determination’, president’s spokesman Davit Babayan told PanARMENIAN.Net on Saturday, October 28 commenting on the current situation in Spain.

On Friday, Catalonia’s President, Carles Puigdemont, asked his parliament for a yes or no vote on a unilateral declaration of independence: the result was seventy in favor, ten against, and two blank votes cast.

“Peoples’ self-determination is one of the most important components of international law, and all the states must respect this right,” Babayan said.

According to him, if Spain doesn’t want to be divided, it should become a federation or a confederation.

Asked whether Artsakh is going to recognize Catalonia’s independence, the spokesman said that everything depends on future developments and that “it’s a matter of time.”

Spain’s Article 155: The constitution’s ‘nuclear option’

October 19, 2017 by administrator

Article 155 of the Spanish constitution would allow the government in Madrid to intervene in the running of Catalonia. It’s an extreme measure for exceptional situations that has never been invoked before.

Article 155 is the most extreme measure available to Spain’s government, allowing it to take over the running of an autonomous region, should it declare independence. That could be invoked as soon as Saturday.

In political circles, the article is known as “the nuclear option.” Former Foreign Secretary Jose Manuel Garcia described it as “an atomic bomb.”

The national legislature describes the article as an “exceptional or extreme” measure “for situations that are equally exceptional or extreme.”

The article allows “all measures necessary to compel the community to meet said obligations, or to protect the above-mentioned general interest.”

The measure has never been invoked in Spain. Similar provisions in other European countries have also never been invoked.

-1

Catalonia leader signs declaration of independence

October 11, 2017 by administrator

President Carles Puigdemont of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Vice President Oriol Junqueras, and Parliament Speaker Carme Forcadell have signed the declaration of Catalonia’s independence from Spain, reported RIA Novosti news agency of Russia.

At present, deputies of the two parties supporting the independence, and which have absolute majority in parliament, are signing under this document.

Presenting the referendum results in parliament, Puigdemont had said that the results of the October 1 plebiscite give the right to declare the creation of an independent country.

BREAKING NEWS: Spain cracked down in Catalonia, thousands vote on an independence. hundreds injured.

October 1, 2017 by administrator

Defying the Spanish authorities, tens of thousands of Catalans turned out to vote on Sunday in a banned independence referendum, clashing with police officers sent from outside the region to shut down polling stations and confiscate ballots.
The police in some places used rubber bullets and truncheons to disperse voters, many of whom had spent the night inside polling stations to ensure that they would remain open.

Catalonia, Madrid ramp up rhetoric ahead of contested independence referendum

September 30, 2017 by administrator

Spanish police have blocked off more than half of the designated polling places ahead of Sunday’s vote, officials say. Groups of activists are camping out at schools across the region and insist the vote will go ahead.

he Spanish government said on Saturday that families were occupying 163 schools in Catalonia and added that 1,300 of 2,315 designated voting stations have been sealed off by police.

Supporters of Catalan independence on Friday evening and Saturday morning occupied polling stations, setting the scene for possible confrontations with police.

Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis called Catalonia plan to hold an independence referendum is “a mockery of democracy.”

Catalonia’s government said it had set up hundreds of polling stations across the northeastern region ahead of Sunday’s vote, despite Madrid declaring the vote illegal.

“Everything is prepared at the more than 2,000 voting points so they have ballot boxes and voting slips, and have everything people need to express their opinion,” Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont told Reuters news agency on Friday.

Spain’s central government, bolstered by a Constitutional Court ruling declaring the referendum invalid, has vowed to block the unauthorized poll.

“I insist that there will be no referendum on Oct. 1,” central government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo told a news conference Friday. “Nobody is above the law and whoever violates them will face consequences.”

Spain’s constitution stipulates that only the federal government has the power to call a referendum on sovereignty.

Spain: Catalonia’s lawmakers give nod to independence referendum

September 7, 2017 by administrator

Catalan lawmakers have passed a law that paves the way for a referendum on independence from the rest of Spain. The vote, which Madrid says would be illegal, could lead to a deep constitutional crisis.

Catalonia’s regional parliament on Wednesday gave the green light for legislation that would allow a referendum to take place in the northeastern Spanish region.

The vote passed comfortably, with 72 pro-independence members of the Catalan parliament backing the “referendum bill” after more than 11 hours of impassioned debate.

Eleven lawmakers abstained from voting, while 52 opposition members of parliament walked out in protest before the vote was even taken.

The law was passed despite a ruling in February by Spain’s constitutional court, declaring it would be unconstitutional. Under the current constitution, only the central government has the right to call such a referendum.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont’s cabinet was expected to immediately sign a decree for the vote to take place on October 1.

After the bill was passed, separatist lawmakers clapped sang the Catalan anthem Els Segadors, which remembers a 1640 revolt against Spain’s Habsburg monarchy.

Court challenge likely

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was understood to have immediately requested a report on the Catalan legislation from the State Council, and was expected to call an urgent cabinet meeting and challenge the regional bill through an appeal to the Constitutional Court.

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said Catalonia’s parliament was holding a “fake debate.” She said that the vote had breached parliamentary procedures and that it was an “act of force” characteristic of “dictatorial regimes.”

Meanwhile, public prosecutors announced they were seeking criminal charges against Generalitat speaker Carme Forcadell for allowing the vote to take place.

Forcadell responded with derision to news that she might be charged. “This is the notion democracy of the institutions of state. At parliament we will continue to guarantee that you can always talk about everything.”

No-confidence vote?

The leader of the opposition Ciudadanos (Citizens) party, Ines Arrimadas, immediately announced that she would seek support for a no-confidence vote against Puigdemont, with the aim of forcing new regional elections.

The bill went ahead without the customary vetting of a legal committee. However, Puigdemont has claimed that his government has a democratic mandate to seek a binding referendum based on the principle that a people have a right to self-determination under international law.

Catalonia’s regional government staged a symbolic independence referendum in 2014. More than 80 percent of participants voted to split from Spain, although only 2.3 million of Catalonia’s 5.4 million eligible voters took part.

On Tuesday, Spain’s Court of Auditors ruled that former Catalan president Artur Mas should repay 5.1 million euros ($6.1 million) in public funds that it cost to hold that vote.

The vote was held three weeks after Islamist attacks in Barcelona, Catalonia’s capital, and a nearby seaside resort, which killed 16 people and wounded more than 120.

rc/bw (AP, AFP, Reuters)

Spain: Catalonia promises ‘immediate’ independence from Spain post-referendum

July 5, 2017 by administrator

,Catalonia’s leaders have put forward a bill supposedly ensuring that an independence referendum will take place even without Madrid’s backing. The vote is planned for October 1, but questions remain over its credibility.

Catalonia will declare independence “immediately” should the majority of voters choose to secede from Spain in a referendum scheduled for late this year, according to a new bill unveiled Tuesday by the separatist-led regional government.

According to Catalonia’s President Carles Puigdemont, the new bill is seeking to extract the northeastern region from Spain’s legal system.

However, doubts continue about the credibility of such a vote.

Catalonian lawmakers hope that by passing the bill in the regional parliament next month, Catalonia’s government will be allowed to circumvent any legal or practical challenges raised by the central government in Madrid against the referendum. Essentially, legislation related to the referendum would become “supreme law” and take precedence over all other legislation.

“A decisive vote will be held on October 1; we will respect the vote,” Puigdemont said. Gabriela Serra, a member of Catalonia’s separatist coalition, said that if voters choose to split from Spain, “obviously independence will have to be declared immediately.” The bill to pull Catalonia out of Spain’s legal system will be submitted to a vote in the regional parliament in August.

The bill also outlined the question voters will be asked in the referendum: “Do you want Catalonia to be an independent state in the form of a republic?”

Pushback from Madrid

Despite calls from regional lawmakers for the bill, if passed, to be legally binding, any vote on independence would face heavy pushback from Spain’s central government.

Xavier Garcia Albiol, the head of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative Popular Party in Catalonia, called the upcoming referendum “a coup d’etat dressed up as democracy.”

Despite years of pressure on Madrid to approve an independence referendum, Spain’s central government has always remained steadfast in its opposition to Catalonia’s regional government on the issue.

Spain’s Constitutional Court has previously quashed Catalonia’s resolution to hold a referendum. The court and Spanish government have also warned Catalonian officials that they could face legal repercussions and sanctions if they help to organize the vote.

Catalonia held a nonbinding vote on independence in 2014. While a massive 80 percent voted in favor, turnout was low, with only 2.2 million out of 5.4 million potential voters casting their ballots.

Catalan government faces internal pressures

Despite showing optimism over the proposed bill, President Puigdemont is under pressure from within his own party over the viability of the referendum.

On Monday, he fired a senior member of his government for openly expressing doubts about the vote.

Question marks over the credibility of the vote have also made it difficult for Catalonia’s government to secure ballot boxes for the referendum. The Spanish government has already warned that any company involved could face punitive action.

Spain: Catalonia approves independence referendum

October 7, 2016 by administrator

One of Spain’s richest regions, Catalonia has repeatedly fought Madrid over its right to secede. Regional president Puigdemont has vowed to proceed with the referendum even without Spain’s blessing.

Catalonia’s parliament approved an independence referendum vote on Thursday in spite of tensions with Madrid, which has argued that the prosperous region has no legal ground for full autonomy. The referendum it set to take place next September.

The move marks another setback for acting Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who has been engaged in a deepening standoff with Catalan separatists. His conservative People’s Party has repeatedly rejected requests from Barcelona to hold an independence vote, going so far as to ask the Constitutional Court to annul a July resolution from the Catalonian parliament to pursue independence.

After Thursday’s vote, the Constitutional Court said it was looking into whether it could file suit against the Catalonian parliament speaker for allowing the vote to take place.

Regional president Carles Puigdemont said last week that he was still up for negotiating whether the referendum would be legally binding or not, but that he would hold it with or without Madrid’s permission.

Puigdemont is riding a wave of support after a comfortably winning a parliamentary confidence vote last Thursday meant to shore up approval for the independence movement. According to recent polls, around 48 percent of Catalans support secession, though that number is down a few percentage points from a few years ago.

es/bw (AFP, Reuters)

Catalonia leader calls referendum on independence from Spain

September 27, 2014 by administrator

The president of Spain’s north-eastern region of Catalonia has called an independence referendum in the latest secession push in Europe, and one of the most serious challenges to the state government in recent years, the Guardian reported.

The conservative Madrid -administration insists the referendum, planned for 9 November, is illegal and will not take place.

The Catalan leader, Artur Mas, called the referendum on Saturday. An emergency cabinet meeting is to be held on Saturday to address the issue.

It plans to challenge a recently-passed Catalan law permitting the referendum before the constitutional court, which it hopes will suspend the motion and halt the vote.

The announcement comes a week after Scotland voted against breaking away from the UK.

A long-standing pro-independence movement in Catalonia has gathered momentum during recent years of economic hardship.

Spain’s constitution doesn’t allow referendums on sovereignty that don’t include all Spaniards, and experts say the constitutional court would rule the vote illegal.

Mas has said he will not do anything illegal but insists the vote will be held.