2014/10/29

Spain’s government is so afraid of Catalonia that they will even forbid mock-up vote

It is clear that the Permanent Commission of the State Council (a high-level legislative office in Spain) is set to rule this coming Thursday, as requested by Partido Popular’s (PP) cabinet, concerning the legality of the new citizen-promoted vote aimed at letting Catalans vote in a mock-up election, in lieu of the real one which was banned by the same Spanish government—moved largely by PP’s fear of the results and their complete lack of any democratic principle.

But the Spanish government is especially afraid of an unofficial, non-binding vote, put together by volunteers, and which people in both Spain and Catalonia know that it has no legal validity, and which is, in essence, a kind of symbolic vote in order to send the Spanish government a message, namely, that Catalans want to vote, and that they shall do so whether they want it or not, and that, the longest it takes the Spanish government to recognize this fact, the more serious the situation will become. However, Spain doesn’t care. They are so arrogant that they even believe that they are the new European wonder boys. 

So, yesterday, the chief of the executive branch, Mariano Rajoy, requested urgently a ruling by this counseling body for before October 31st, according to what sources from the Council told Europa Press. Therefore, the Council is supposed to be approving it during their regular Thursday meeting, and of course there’s no need to worry what this ruling will be. PP’s executive is planning on using the Spanish Constitutional Court to ban any actions taken by the Catalan government in order to hold this vote, which they call a “citizen participatory process.” If this document is approved on Thursday and sent back to the executive office, the Council of Ministers (a kind of president’s cabinet) could decide on this appeal during this coming Friday meeting.

The Secretary of Justice, Rafael Catalá, explained yesterday that the state attorneys are looking into the Catalan government’s actions, such as “the instructions sent to schools and state workers,” to determine whether they are “punishable enough” to be added to the case. Along the same lines, the secretary highlighted that “it might amount to unequivocal legal fraud,” in the sense that “they are trying to obtain a forbidden result through alternative means,” and he added that the November 9 non-offical vote in Catalonia “would not be possible for any public government because there is no legal framework.” If anyone understands all these preconditions, please explain them to me.

Given the new proposed vote, mock-up or not, and the new actions against it taken by the Spanish government, many Catalans, like myself, wonder whether we’ll be able to vote. Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya’s (president Mas’ party) spokeswoman, and mayor of Sant Cugat del Vallès, Mercè Conesa, concerning the Spanish government’s threats to prohibit the new vote, said that people in her party are feeling “calm and confident” because they think that “the participatory process will allow citizens to vote.”


But it is clear that Ms. Conesa is not taking PP’s government fear into consideration, to such an extent that they might not even allow Catalans to hold legally-devoid referendums. In essence, they do not want us to vote—especially about whether we want to be an independent nation or not. Deep down, they have two problems. One of them affects us Catalans negatively, because we might go through tough times. The other, because, whether Rajoy wants it or not, this will have a negative effect on other people in Spain, because, I insist, in the end Catalans shall vote.

Blas Gutierrez
Retired industrial engineer
@blagusampol

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