Pere Aragones of Spain’s northeastern Catalonia pledged to carry a brand new independence referendum on Tuesday.
Presenting a examine on the legality of such a vote, Aragones stated: “Voting on independence is feasible inside the present authorized context – similar to the amnesty regulation, it’s solely a matter of political will.”
According to the examine, the perfect path for holding a vote on whether or not the area would cut up from Spain could be utilizing Article 92 of the Spanish structure concerning a “consultative referendum.”
The referendum query proposed by Aragones is: “Do you need Catalonia to be an unbiased state?”
But earlier than something, the vote must be agreed upon by Spain’s king, proposed by the prime minister and licensed by parliament.
On Tuesday, the Spanish authorities spokesperson shortly dominated out the proposal, saying {that a} referendum is “clearly and radically opposed” to the federal government’s coverage on Catalonia.
Aragones’s new proposal for a referendum comes forward of snap elections that he referred to as for the area, which is able to happen on May 12.
While his separatist celebration ERC had by no means dominated out a referendum, negotiating amnesty and extra concessions from the Spanish authorities have been prioritized lately.
But with Carles Puigdemont, the hard-edge conservative former president of Catalonia who has been exiled for the reason that botched independence try in 2017, now within the operating for Catalan president once more, the separatist rhetoric could possibly be rising.
The marketing campaign for the Catalan authorities has not formally begun, and the Popular Party formally denounced Aragones to the electoral fee, accusing him of utilizing a authorities press convention for electoral ends.
In 2014, the Catalan authorities licensed a non-binding referendum on Catalan independence. After voters opted for a “sure” to independence, with participation unclear, the federal government vowed to carry a binding referendum.
In 2017, that’s precisely what the Catalan authorities tried to do. However, Spain tried to dam the vote, together with utilizing police forces to cease some voters.
With no authorized minimal participation required, the Catalan authorities stated 90% of voters supported independence and tried to unilaterally declare independence from Spain.
That’s when the Spanish authorities took over the rule of Catalonia, arresting the leaders behind the independence push who didn’t flee.
But since then, widespread enthusiasm for independence appears to have been dwindling.
A 2024 ballot by the Political and Social Science Institute of Catalonia (ICPS) discovered that simply 39.5% of Catalans would vote “sure” to independence, whereas 52.5% stated they would like to remain in Spain.
Source: www.dailysabah.com