News
Question set for 1 October Catalan vote: “Do you want Catalonia to be an independent state in the form of a republic?”
The wording of the question follows the lines of a 2015 resolution passed by the pro-independence majority of the Catalan Parliament (that is big-tent alliance Junts pel Sí and democratic socialist CUP), which sought to launch a “process for the creation of an independent Catalan state, in the form of a republic.”
Puigdemont has given no details as to how the Catalan government will be able to implement the result in the case of a “yes” victory, vis a vis the staunch opposition faced from the Spanish government. Still, the Catalan president has argued that the result “will be a mandate that this government commits itself to implement.”
Puigdemont has further vowed to offer “all guarantees” for the “uprightness” of the calling of the referendum. The Catalan president has called on citizens to participate in the “exercise of an inalienable right upon which the edifice of democracy rests: the right of the people to freely decide the future of their country.”President @KRLS calls for a referendum on Catalan independence for 1 October, 2017. pic.twitter.com/1RXqvGAxFV
— Catalan Government (@catalangov) 9 de juny de 2017
The vote has been announced, but not officially called. The Catalan government plans to issue the official calling of the referendum at a later stage.
Main pro-independence civil society association Catalan National Assembly (ANC) has reacted to the announcement by saying that in the upcoming months, it will be important both to “defend democracy that [some] want to take away from us” and “to win a 'yes' majority that will lead us to an independent state.”
Opposition rejects announcement
All opposition parties in the Catalan Parliament —with the exception of pro-independence CUP— have rejected today's announcement. Opposition leader Inés Arrimadas (centre-right unionist Citizens' Party) says that Puigdemont had already promised to deliver independence by July 2017, and that he now goes back to 2014, when a non-binding vote on Catalan independence was held:
Puigdemont va prometre la independència pel juliol del 2017.Ara torna al 2014 i anuncia un nou 9N.Aquesta pel•li ja l'hem vist.Eleccions ja! pic.twitter.com/eCpovKXfEX
— Inés Arrimadas (@InesArrimadas) 9 de juny de 2017
Left-wing alliance Catalonia Yes We Can (Catalunya Sí Que Es Pot, CSQP), while not opposing the referendum, has called on the Catalan government to discuss it in Parliament, and to make it clear what its rules, law, guarantees, or official recognition will be:
"Avui tenim data i pregunta. Ara només cal saber sota quina llei es farà, quines garanties tindrà, quins reconeixements, on es votarà..." pic.twitter.com/ouVxkJmqwd
— CAT Sí que es Pot (@catsiqueespot) 9 de juny de 2017