09.04.2014 - 06:17
The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, made a late-night speech discussing yesterday’s debate and vote in the Spanish Congress on the proposal of the parliament with respect to the powers to hold a referendum. Mas thanked the representatives for defending the proposal: “They used a cordial tone. I appreciate both the tone and the content of the parliamentary representatives’ speeches before the Spanish Congress.”
“I also want to thank the parties that said yes,” Mas continued. “Today a new opportunity was lost. They have not extended their hand. We had ours out. But this gesture was not answered by the majority parties in the Spanish Congress. Our hand will still be out there in the months that come. It’s a shame that they did not take advantage of the opportunity.”
“With this obsession of saying no to everything, they haven’t even accepted discussing a proposal from the parliament. They could have said yes, but they didn’t want to. Time will tell if they have made a mistake. You can’t force anyone to do something they don’t want to do. There was a lack of political will.”
“They are afraid of the vote of the people of Catalonia. Above all the PP, the PSOE, and the UPyD goes without saying. They are afraid because they know are not being straight with the Catalan people. Today, some hoped to portray this vote as the end, period. As the President of Catalonia, I have to tell them that this not the end. It is simply a new paragraph.”
Mas announced, “From here on out, the Catalan institutions will look for a path in other legal frameworks—and there are many—so that the Catalan people can hold a referendum. We will continue forward without losing either our manners or the way that we people of Catalonia do things, today and always. We are betting big on democracy. We will not be diverted from this path: that of democracy, of ballot boxes, of dialogue, and peace. The will of the people of Catalonia cannot be blocked by a vote in the Spanish Congress.”
President Mas’ remarks (in Catalan):
