Notícies Dijous 16.01.2014 00:48

What's at stake in the Catalan Parliament today?

What does each party want, and how will they vote?

At 11am, the special session of the Catalan Parliament will open with a single item on the agenda: debate and vote on the proposal to send a parliamentary delegation to the Spanish Congress where they will propose an organic law that would delegate the powers necessary to the Catalan Government to authorize, convoke, and hold a referendum on independence. CiU, ERC, ICV-EUiA and CUP came to a consensus and registered this proposal the day after they announced the date and question of the referendum.

What will be debated and voted on in the special session?

The motion to be voted asks that a delegation from the Catalan Parliament go to the Spanish Congress to present a proposal of an organic law that asks the Spanish Congress to cede to the Generalitat de Catalunya the necessary powers for authorizing, convoking, and celebrating a referendum in which the Catalan people can make a statement about the collective political future of Catalonia, based on the terms to be agreed on with the government of the Spanish state'. And it proposes applying Article 150.2 of the Spanish Constitution that allows the transfer of powers for holding a referendum from the state to the autonomous community via an organic law.

Article 150.2

Article 150.2 of the Spanish Constitution says, 'The state can transfer or delegate to the autonomous communities, via an organic law, powers that are under Spanish State jurisdiction that because of their nature are susceptible to being transferred or delegated. The law foresees in each case the corresponding transfer of financial resources, as well as the forms of control that the State saves for itself.

How do you ask for the transfer this way?

The Parliament of Catalonia will vote to deliver a proposal of a law to the Spanish Congress, where it will probably not be debated until April, since that chamber doesn't usually debate more than one autonomous community's initiative each month and there are five already waiting in line.

This is the path that ICV-EUiA defended and that all of the parties in favor of the referendum finally ended up supporting. At the same time, the parties have saved one additional path if the debate of the proposal of the law should drag on much beyond the first quarter. This other path could be a proposal of a non-law: this quicker alternative would allow the Catalan parliamentary groups to begin debate on the transfer of powers within 30 days from the moment that the motion is filed.

What will each party vote?

The proposal was agreed upon by CiU, ERC, ICV-EUiA and the CUP at the same time that they agreed upon the date and the question. Nevertheless, the CUP annonced today that it would abstain from the vote, out of consistency: it believes that you can't go asking permission from Madrid for holding a referendum. Therefore, it will be CiU, ERC, and ICV-EUiA voting in favor and PP and Ciutdans against. The 'no' vote is probably also the vote of the PSC, although the vote has awakened a lot of internal struggle, to such an extent that Àngel Ros announced today abandoned his seat in Parliament. It'll be necessary to watch the rest of the dissenting MPs, who didn't want to reveal their votes before the vote.