The head of the regional government and member of the independence party Esquerda Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) said that in recent years the efforts of the executive he chairs have focused on issues such as the pandemic, the response to the inflation or drought, but none of these themes “should make us forget the political conflict that remains to be resolved”.

In this context, the regional government (known as the Generalitat) will start a process this month to define the rules and conditions for holding a referendum on the independence of Catalonia, which will then be submitted to the government. Spanish, he added.

The objective of Aragonès and the ERC is that the new referendum be held with the agreement of the Spanish authorities and be recognized internationally, unlike what happened in 2017.

Thus, in 2024, the ERC wants to negotiate with the Spanish government the rules and conditions for holding a referendum on the independence of the region, like what the regional executive of Quebec obtained in Canada. in 2000.

The proposal that Catalonia will present to the Spanish government in 2024 will be built over the next few months and involves the formation of a commission of academics, experts in law and political science, of different sensitivities, including names that s oppose the independence of the region, said Father Aragonès, during a press conference in Barcelona.

This commission will be responsible for preparing various reports and works in this process, up to the final proposal that will be presented to the government in Madrid.

This work will include a collection of opinions and conclusions from three participatory processes, with all political parties except the extreme right of Vox, with several Catalan entities and with a sample of 800 people, representative of the society of the region, who will follow scientific methods in the selection.

“The conflict with the state has been stuck for too long and we can only move forward if we identify new proposals,” Aragonès told reporters.

At the last ERC congress in January, the party approved its own referendum proposal negotiated with the Spanish state, which predicts a victory for the “yes” to independence if the voter turnout is at least 50% and a support of at least 55% of the votes.

“My wish is that the final proposal be the proposal that Catalonia puts on the table for negotiations with the state government. Not just a proposal from me or from the ‘govern’ [regional]but from the country [a Catalunha]», assured Father Aragonès today.

The head of regional government also said he would take the proposal to Madrid even if the Socialists lose national elections scheduled for December and the right wing passes to govern Spain.

The current Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, came to power in 2018 and has since defended the diversion of the Catalan question and the path of dialogue with the separatists.

In addition to having created a “dialogue table” where the national government and the regional executive sit, Sánchez pardoned, in 2019, the nine independence supporters arrested and sentenced to prison terms after the illegal referendum and the unilateral proclamation of the independence of Catalonia. from 2017.

At the end of last year, the Spanish parliament approved the initiative of the socialists which put an end to the crime of sedition, under which these nine supporters of independence were condemned and whose former president of the Catalan executive Carles Puigdemont, still not tried, was accused of having fled to Belgium.

Without an absolute majority of support in the national parliament, Sánchez relied on supporters of Catalan independence (and also on the Basques, as well as other smaller parties) to pass laws such as the budget of the ‘State.

Carles Puigdemont’s party, Together for Catalonia (JxCat), and other regional political forces have declared themselves opposed to a referendum negotiated with Spain and continue to defend the unilateral path to independence.

The ERC, on the other hand, considers that the unilateral way, in confrontation with the authorities of the Spanish State and without recognition from the international community, has failed and defends the negotiated way, starting with a referendum.

Aragonès has argued with polls showing that around 77% of Catalans favor holding a referendum, including voters opposed to the region’s independence.

According to the same studies, the supporters of the independence of Catalonia are less than 50%.

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By Impala News / Lusa

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