Referendum and disconnection in two separate laws

BarcelonaThe referendum law on the one hand and the legal transitoriness law on the other. According to various sources, JxSí and the CUP are in agreement that the disconnection with Spain will be accomplished via two distinct laws, thus abandoning the idea of having one single legal transitoriness law, as initially planned. Nevertheless, the agreement is not yet complete since there are discrepancies regarding the timetable concerning when the bills ought to be passed. In particular, doubts remain as to when the legal transitoriness bill ought to come into law —before or after 1 October— although the bulk of the law —which, in theory, is intended to guarantee the transition from the Spanish legal system to the Catalan— would only come into effect after the referendum and only if the Yes vote were to win.

Numerous meetings have been held this week, with more scheduled for the next few days, with an eye to the deadline of 4 July, when the Catalan government is due to roll out the two bills at a public event —though they will not go before parliament until September, to avoid legal challenges by the Spanish government. On this date they will also release details regarding the preparations for the referendum. Yesterday, Vice President Oriol Junqueras declared that "On 4 July, representatives of the government and MPs who have participated in the drafting of the laws will clarify all remaining doubts as to the referendum, the guarantees it will have, its legally binding nature and release details of the two bills".

According to Catalan radio RAC1, the event will be held in Barcelona and in the coming weeks a publicity tour will be organised to inform the public of the details of the 1-O [1 of October, the planned date of the referendum] in 200 Catalan towns and cities. The government will also launch a website where people will find key information relating to the referendum: www.garanties.cat. The choice of the name is no accident, considering that one of the government’s main objectives is to seek Catalunya En Comú’s support for the referendum and they are adamant that the vote on independence must have full legal guarantees. On Monday, the leader of Catalunya En Comú, Xavier Domènech, voiced his doubts as to the validity of the referendum. After meeting with President Puigdemont and Vice President Junqueras, he warned that he thought it likely that the vote will end up becoming another 9-N [the non-binding referendum held on 9 November 2014].

On Tuesday, PDECat and ERC’s leadership met with the president and vice president to try to resolve the differences of opinion within Junts pel Sí [or JxSí, the ruling coalition of different parties and organisations with the common goal of independence]. Although it was not entirely successful, yesterday Junqueras and JxSí’s leaders in parliament, Jordi Turull and Marta Rovira, attempted to silence those that claim that there is a split within the coalition. Instead, they highlighted the unity within the pro-independence majority.

In recent days Junts pel Sí has addressed the referendum’s legal foundation. However, doubts remain as to the timetable concerning when the legal transitoriness law is to be passed. ERC sources and certain members of the PDECat argue that both laws should be passed during the same parliamentary session, at the end of August or the beginning of September. If this were to happen, the legal transitoriness law would make it clear that the legal framework has changed, while the referendum law (which is required to regulate the 1-O vote) would operate within the new legal framework. The other position, which is defended by other members of the PDECat, is to first pass the referendum law, only passing the legal transitoriness law if the Yes vote wins on 1 October. The thinking behind the second option is that the transition to independence cannot begin before the voters have had their say, even if the disconnection is temporary, in order to hold the referendum. Nevertheless, everyone involved concurs that details of the two bills need to be disclosed in order to outline how the transition from the Spanish legal system to the Catalan will take place in the event of a Yes win.

Making the timetable public

For its part, the CUP —which yesterday began its campaign for the Yes vote in Barcelona— welcomed the fact that the government has finally announced the event on 4 July, and insisted on the need to have a specific law covering the referendum. Speaking before a crowd of 200, CUP MP Eulàlia Reguant stated that "we need to pass a referendum law in order to provide a legal framework for it to take place, and the legal transitoriness law must be ready for the day after the yes vote has won". Reguant went on to call on the government not to be afraid of disobeying the Spanish authorities. She underlined that the only way to carry out the referendum is with a law that has been "mediated, amended and challenged; the only way forward will be with warnings and complaints".

Whatever eventually happens, a two-step disconnection is still the procedure to follow. Even if the legal transitoriness law were to be passed on the same day as that of the referendum law, the only articles which would come into force would be those which allowed the 1-O referendum to be framed in the new legality. A Yes win would prompt the rest of the law to come into force, initiating a situation of no return to the autonomic model.