Sànchez: “Either we put an end to the process or the process will be the end of us”
The president of the grassroots group Catalan National Assembly (ANC, in Catalan), spoke about the need for Catalonia to hold an independence referendum soon
Prada (Conflent)A referendum in 2017
On Friday Jordi Sànchez, the president of the grassroots group Catalan National Assembly (ANC, in Catalan), spoke about the need for Catalonia to hold an independence referendum soon. “This independence process must come to an end. Either we put an end to the process or the process will be the end of us”, he remarked. He asked the Catalan government to show “determination” to prepare a “democratic breakaway” and to detail “how, what and when” a legally-binding referendum will be held. As for the date, he suggested some time before the end of 2017, because that is when the government-set eighteen-month independence preparation period would come to a close.
During a debate on the subject of a unilateral independence referendum (RUI, in Catalan) —an event hosted by Demòcrates de Catalunya at the Catalan Summer University in Prada de Conflent—, the ANC president stated that the referendum is the tool “to obtain independence legitimately” and it would allow for further support to be garnered. “More people will rally for a Yes vote than they supported Together For Yes and the CUP at the polls”, he predicted. He added that he does not wish to “miss out on” the chance that the Spanish authorities might forbid the vote. “Demanding a referendum is the single most powerful way of weakening the Spanish state and achieving independence”, Sànchez said. The ANC leader also mentioned that “unilaterality cannot be an excuse for the political parties that support self-determination not to adhere to a unilateral referendum”, in a clear reference to the leadership and voters of Podemos-En Comú, the emerging alternative left, whose position on independence is lukewarm.
President Puigdemont to meet CUP this month
CUP MP Anna Gabriel also mentioned a unilateral referendum during an interview with Catalan public TV broadcaster TV3. She asked that the vote of confidence on president Puigdemont serve to re-define the roadmap so that the last stretch of this term includes “a moment of maximum democratic expression”. However, speaking on RAC1, Together For Yes parliamentary speaker Jordi Turull was quick to raise doubts on a unilateral referendum because “it presents many risks” given the potential repression by Madrid.
Anna Gabriel, who again made a point of separating the 2017 budget from the negotiation, stated that her party does not question president Puigdemont at all: “As president, we have nothing to hold him accountable for”. She also announced that Puigdemont is scheduled to meet CUP in the last week of August —at the same time as the Spanish chamber will attempt to elect a president— to discuss the vote of confidence on September 28.
