Monday, November 9, 2015

Catalan parliament to vote on secession in showdown with Madrid

Catalonia's pro-independence regional parliament is expected to launch a secession process in Spain's wealthiest region on Monday, in a showdown with the central government in Madrid.

Catalan pro-independence parties -- which won a majority in the regional assembly for the first time in September elections -- will vote on a resolution calling on the assembly to start working on legislation within 30 days to create a separate social security system and treasury, with a view to securing complete independence as early as 2017.

Lawmakers will begin debating the text at 10:00 am (0900 GMT) Monday with a vote expected several hours later.

The resolution has the backing of Catalan president Artur Mas' Together for Yes coalition and the smaller far-left separatist CUP party, which together have a majority in the regional assembly, with 72 seats of the 135 seats.

Spain's conservative central government has vowed to immediately ask the Constitutional Court to declare the resolution void if it is passed.

If the court accepts the government's appeal as is expected, the Catalan resolution will be automatically suspended until judges hear arguments and make their decision.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is gearing up for a December 20 general election, has the backing of the main opposition Socialists and new centre-right party Ciudadanos.

Among Spain's main parties at the national level only far-left Podemos has resisted Rajoy's effort to forge a united front on the issue.

While Podemos wants Catalonia to stay within Spain, it has also said it would support a referendum on the matter.

The Catalan resolution, however, states that the secession process will not be subject to decisions made by Spanish institutions, including the Constitutional Court.

"The content of the resolution will be applied regardless of what the Constitutional Court says. We have strength and legitimacy, even if the Spanish states resists," Pere Aragones, a lawmaker with Together for Yes, told AFP.

Rajoy's government in September boosted the powers of the Constitutional Court to allow it to quickly suspend leaders who disobey its orders, in a move aimed directly at Catalonia.

The government has also raised the possibility of invoking article 155 of the Spanish constitution, which allows Madrid to supersede the authority of a regional government that is acting outside the law or cut off its funding, another measure that would concern the cash-strapped Catalan government...

 AFP
ahram.org.eg
9/11/15
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1 comment :

  1. Catalogne: le Parlement lance la rupture avec l'Espagne...

    (Belga) Le Parlement de Catalogne a adopté lundi une résolution sans précédent déclarant le début de la rupture avec l'Espagne et le lancement d'un processus qui doit aboutir à la création d'une république indépendante au plus tard en 2017. Septante-deux députés indépendantistes (sur 135) ont adopté le texte qui lance ce processus visant à créer "un Etat catalan indépendant prenant la forme d'une République".

    Les partisans d'un maintien en Espagne ont accueilli le résultat du vote debouts, déployant des drapeaux de l'Espagne et la Catalogne. Le Parlement régional de cette région au coeur de l'Europe méditerranéenne de 7,5 millions d'habitants, représentant 20% du PIB de l'Espagne, est issu d'un scrutin organisé le 27 septembre centré sur la question de la sécession. Ces élections ont été emportées par les indépendantistes, qui ont gagné une majorité des sièges (72 sur 135) sans pour autant obtenir la majorité absolue des voix (47,8%)..............http://www.rtl.be/info

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