11.04.2014 - 11:32
“We have arrived at the conclusion that we have to hold a referendum to decide on our political future,” says Catalan President Artur Mas in an interview published today in the Parisian daily Le Figaro. But the Spanish Congress refused to delegate the powers to hold referendums to Catalonia. Mas explains that there is still a way to call a referendum by using the Catalan “Law of consultations” which will be approved in September, and if that law is overturned and prohibited, there will still be one legal avenue open: “If there is no alternative, we will transform the elections into a referendum. This is not the best option, but it is the most probable one.” In addition, he said he was skeptical about any possible constitutional reform.
Why didn’t Mas attend the debate in Madrid this week? “We already knew that the result of the vote would be negative and that Madrid was looking for a photograph: the president of Catalonia defends his initiative, loses, and he’s done with. I’m reserving myself for the future. There are more ways to get to a referendum.”
About the different ways to hold a referendum, he explained, “We are preparing a law (of consultations) so that it won’t be easy to overturn. But if they prohibit it anyway, what path will be left to us Catalans? The only way will be to hold Catalan parliamentary elections, which are by definition legal. If there is no other alternative, we will convert these elections into a referendum. But that is not the best option.”
Just the same, Mas says that it is “unfortunately, the most probable scenario. If we get there, it will be due to the radical opposition of the Spanish authorities.”
And what will the plebiscite election look like? “I will call for normal elections. And how can they prohibit parties that are in favor of a referendum, that represent between 70 and 80% of the population, from transforming the vote into a referendum?”
When would such a plebiscite be held? Mas made it clear that he would prefer that they be held after the Spanish elections in the fall of 2015 because he thinks that the PP will lose the elections or at the very least the absolute majority that it enjoys. But he makes it clear that he is committed to coming to an agreement with the other parties on this question.
And a reform of the constitution? He says: “If there is any Catalan initiative to reform the constitution, the PP and PSOE will not accept it and it will be a waste of time. If the reform proposal is serious, which I doubt, it’s up to them to take the initiative.”
