The government on Wednesday strongly dashed all hopes of allowing for a “Montenegro-style” referendum on Catalonia’s self-determination, despite the repeated calls from all Catalan pro-independence forces sitting in parliament.
Finance Minister María Jesús Montero, Culture Minister Miquel Iceta, and Education Minister Pilar Alegría all reiterated the government’s opposition to a referendum in parliament on Wednesday.
“There will be no referendum” in Catalonia, they stressed on Wednesday.
“With a government of (Prime Minister) Pedro Sánchez there will never be a referendum of this type, neither legal nor unlawful”, Montero told lawmakers on Wednesday.
The renewed call for a referendum comes from Catalonia’s regional president, Pere Aragonès of the pro-independence Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), whose party is now calling for a referendum based on the so-called “Montenegro model” that would grant independence with 50% participation and 55% in favour of Catalonia’s independence.
To defuse long-standing tensions with Catalonia, the left-wing government that relies on ERC’s support in parliament is considering modifying the offence of “sedition” in the criminal code so that it is in line with EU norms before the end of the year. The proposal could already be approved at the first reading on Thursday (15 December).
Spain’s definition of “sedition” and the so-called “Catalan gate” gained international traction after those who organised the failed Catalan independence bid of October 2017 were charged with a string of criminal offences, including sedition.
However, the government’s push to reform the criminal code is viewed by the centre-right opposition party Partido Popular (PP) as “opening the door” to a referendum on self-determination in Catalonia.
“We are living through an unusual moment, which not even the most ambitious pro-independence (Catalan) activist could have thought would happen”, PP president, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, warned.
While the government flatly denied the possibility of a referendum, Aragonès reiterated that Catalonia “has the right to freely decide its future” in a referendum on independence which, he said, “can never be a crime”.
In Aragonès’s words, it is “essential” to open an internal debate in Catalonia in order to put on the table a proposal for an agreed “effective” referendum that is “recognised by the international community”.
In May 2023, Spain will hold municipal elections, which is viewed by many as the first litmus test for Sanchez’s governing coalition with left-wing Unidas Podemos.
After that, the parties will have to face the general election set for December next year, and the political row with Catalonia is one of the “hot potatoes” in the Iberian political arena.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)
Source: euractiv.com
