It is perhaps a lesson for Independence Seekers here in Wales to note that the Mayor of Barcelona has dealt a blow to bid to hold an independence referendum refused to let its voting centers be used for the ballot opposed by the national government.
Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau told Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont in a letter Friday she couldn’t allow use of the centers until he could outline plans for protecting public employees from the consequences of working on the vote, according to El Pais. Spain’s constitutional court on Thursday said it would ask 947 Catalan mayors to avoid taking part in the referendum.
The refusal by Catalonia’s biggest city for now to aid the referendum is a blow to Puigdemont as court rulings sought by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy add legal pressure on public officials seen to be facilitating the vote.
A spokesman for the Catalan government wasn’t immediately available for comment when contacted Saturday.
Puigdemont’s coalition in the Catalan parliament passed a bill on Sept. 6 to call the independence referendum for Oct. 1. To the fury of Rajoy’s government, the assembly has also passed a bill laying out how Catalonia would be run under a transition to potentially becoming a republic
Mayor Coalu is a menber Barcelona en Comú (Catalan for Barcelona in Common) ia citizen platform launched in June 2014[that is currently governing in minority in the City of Barcelona. Its policy agenda includes defending social justice and community rights,]promoting participatory democracy, introducing mechanisms to tackle corruption, and developing a new model of tourism for Barcelona.
Barcelona en Comú is allied to Podemos (Spanish: [po̞ˈðe̞mo̞s̺], translated in English as "We can")[ the left-wing political party in Spain both have a platform of direct democracy .
But it seems this does not include supporting the right of of Catalonia to hold a Independence Referendum.
A Left wing Party that claims to be radical buckling under from pressure from a Right Wing central Government who would have thought it?
1 comment:
I wouldn't want to be categorical, Glyn, but look closely at the form of words Ada Colau used. She said, "UNTIL he could outline plans for protecting public employees from the consequences of working on the vote".
With the Spanish authorities using the threat of various forms of legal action against anyone and everyone involved in the referendum, one of the characteristics of the movement has been to keep them in the dark for as long as possible, and only act at the last moment. I therefore half-suspect that the assurance she is looking for will come, but perhaps not until a few days before the actual vote. I can't be sure, though.
It's true that most mayors in Catalunya have made a very public show of support for the referendum, but the circumstances of a large cities like Barcelona are understandably different from those of the smaller municipalities, not least because they have hundreds, if not thousands, of employees.
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