Catalan parliament votes for independence from Spain

By Alyssa McMurtry

MADRID

Catalan lawmakers passed a resolution on Monday backing the regional parliament’s nine-point plan for independence from Spain by 2017.

The separatist parties, which won the majority of seats in September’s election, passed the plan with 72 votes out of 135 in the Barcelona-based Catalan parliament.

The resolution called on members to begin creating new legislation over a 30-day period for a new constituent process and new laws for social security and taxes.

The resolution aims for Catalonia to become a fully independent republic as early as 2017. This controversial decision puts the north-eastern region of Spain in conflict with the Spanish national government, which has vowed to stifle their secessionist plans.

About the resolution, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said that it had neither “value” nor “consequences”. He appealed to the Constitutional Court to annul the motion.

“The government will not permit this to continue. We are determined to use all democratic means to defend democracy. We will use only the rule of law, but all of the rule of law,” Rajoy said.

“This is the first step. I hope that it is the last, but that doesn’t depend on those of us who defend coexistence, but on the useless attempts of those who are attacking it,” he said.

The Catalonian plan for independence includes provisions to disobey Spanish institutions, and specifically mentions the “delegitimized” Constitutional Court. Before the vote, both sides debated the merits of this plan for an independent Catalonia.

“There is a growing cry for Catalonia to not only be a country, but a state with everything that means,” Raul Romeva said on behalf of the secessionist “Together for Yes” alliance.

“Today, we don’t merely open a new parliament, this marks a before and after,” Romeva said, adding that “there will not be a court that can stop” their independence plan.

The leader of the main opposition in the Catalan Parliament, Ines Arrimadas of the “Citizens” party, reiterated that while the two independence parties won a majority of seats, they only won 48 percent of the popular vote.

Arrimadas, along with other unionists, accused the current Catalonia President, Artur Mas, of using the enthusiasm for independence as a way to protect him and his “Convergence” party from corruption charges.

“Perhaps the thing is that there are gentlemen who wish to escape from justice, with 15 offices seized by the courts and with the treasurer of the party in prison,” she said.

Rajoy scheduled a meeting with the national opposition leader, Pedro Sanchez, on Tuesday to discuss Monday’s unprecedented moves in Catalonia.