08.07.2014 - 09:16
Yesterday, the sole candidate for First Secretary of the Catalan Socialist Party, Miquel Iceta, tried to water down the content of the November 9th referendum. Iceta proposed a question that asks the Catalan Government to negotiate a better fit for Catalonia within Spain. But neither the former PSC-aligned critics who just started the Moviment per Catalunya nor the rest of the parties who are in favor of the right to decide offered support for his proposal and instead criticized him for distancing himself further from the consensus around the November 9th referendum.
Specifically, Iceta wants the question to serve to legitimize an effort by the Catalan Government to begin a negotiation with the Spanish Executive. The objectives of this negotiation would be a “fiscal pact with solidarity”, the recognition of Catalonia’s “national character” and a “safeguarding” of the Catalan Government’s jurisdiction over matters having to do with language and culture. The result of the process would be to then go back to the polls for an additional referendum. According to Iceta, the current formulation of the question is a “huge mess”.
In a conference organized by Nueva Economia Fòrum, Iceta said that the PSC would support the Catalan law of consultations, that is, non-binding, not referendums, but he warned that these regulations would not validate the celebration of a consultation like the one called for on November 9th precisely because it contains a referendum-type question. In his opinion, the question does not “complete all of the minimum democratic standards” that are set by international institutions: “The first question is not clear, and the second only responds to a portion of the citizenry.” But, in addition, according to him, the promoters “haven’t even come to an agreement on how to count the results.” For all of those reasons and more, he predicted that the referendum would be “immediately suspended” by the Spanish Constitutional Court.
He also addressed the ruling PP to ask it to not deny the existence of a problem between Catalonia and Spain: “They must be aware that there is a problem; I ask them to make an effort not to deny it and instead to come up with solutions. The only thing that is not possible is saying no to everything and denying the reality of the situation.” And he added a premise: that any political agreement to get through this solution would have to be voted on at the polls later on.
CDC: “We want to vote for or against independence”
The vice secretary for institutional coordination for the CDC, Lluís Corominas rejected the question proposed by Iceta. “We want to vote in favor or against independence. That is non-negotiable.” Corominas added that Catalonia had been trying to fit in with Spain for thirty-five years and now it wanted to move forward. For that reason, he asked Iceta to join the “political and social consensus” around the November 9th referendum.
Corominas rejected Iceta’s question saying that it would be wrong to give the sensation of postponing the solution. “There is a clear proposal that enjoys the political consensus in the parliament and in the community and that we wish to bring to a vote, and we won’t change our opinion,” he said.
ERC: “Iceta’s proposal smells of backroom deals”
Anna Simó, ERC’s spokesperson said it was a shame that Iceta wasn’t listening to the majority of the Catalan people as he makes proposals that she considers more characteristic of Spanish leaders. “Iceta’s proposal smells of backroom deals,” she said.
And she added that at least 86 members of the Catalan Parliament agree on the date and the question and therefore, it needs to be carried out “to the end”.
ICV: “The people have already left the autonomous era behind”
ICV’s secretary general, Josep Vendrell, said that Iceta had come too late. “The Catalan people have left the autonomous era behind,” he said. And he encouraged the PSC to join the right to decide camp and support the November 9th referendum. Iceta’s proposal would have been all right before the ruling on the Statute of Autonomy, he said, but at tis point, the debate before the Catalan people is quite different.
