Jew World Order

nsnbc : Spain’s Constitutional Court, on Thursday, suspended the call for a referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain after agreeing to review an appeal by the central Spanish government authorities in Madrid.

President of the Catalan Government Carles Puigdemont (right) laughs beside Catalan regional vice-president Oriol Junqueras during a session at the Catalan parliament to debate and vote a secession law, in Barcelona, on September 7

The development was expected, especially after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy proclaimed that the central government was challenging both a law meant to legalize and legitimize the independence vote and a decree signed Wednesday by the regional Catalan government summoning voters for the October 1 ballot.

Expected was also that Carles Puigdemont, the President of Catalonia and one of the main promoters of the referendum, said that neither central Spanish authorities nor the courts could halt their plans.

“We will respond to the tsunami of lawsuits with a tsunami of democracy,” Puigdemont told local broadcaster 8TV. He also stressed that more than 16,000 people had already registered online as volunteers and that more than half of the mayors in Catalonia were supporting the vote.

Spain’s Constitutional Court has previously ruled that a referendum can only be called with the approval of the central authorities. However, Puigdemont’s pro-independence coalition stresses that the universal right to self-determination overrules Spain’s laws.

Catalonia with its capital Barcelona generate about 20 percent of Spain’s GDP. Some 7.5 million people live in Catalonia. many of them, if not most, would primarily describe themselves as Catalan, then as Spanish citizens.

Catalonia has self-governance in certain areas such as police, health, education but key areas such as foreign affairs, taxes as well as infrastructure are in the hands of the central government in Madrid. Catalonia has long complained that Madrid is using a disproportionate amount of funds on development in other regions, especially Madrid, while Catalonia is being neglected. Basques have similar grievances.

The debate is not exactly being de-escalated by statements like those of Prime Minister Rajoy who “categorically” rejected the legality and even the legitimacy of an independence referendum. On Thursday Rajoy claimed “That’s something that the government and the courts can’t allow. … There won’t be a self-determination referendum because that would be taking away from other Spaniards the right to decide their future.”

On the other hand Rajoy tried to strike a fine balance when he said  “The Constitution can be modified but through the rules and channels established, never through disobedience,” Rajoy said. The state prosecutor, meanwhile, announced plans for lawsuits accusing Catalan officials involved in the possible referendum of disobedience, abuse of power and embezzlement, among other charges.

One lawsuit seeks to punish members of the Catalan parliament who allowed the debate and the vote on the legal framework of the October 1 referendum. A separate lawsuit was aimed at Puigdemont and the other members of his cabinet who signed the referendum decree. Chief state prosecutor Jose Manuel Maza said prosecutors and police forces in Catalonia have been told to investigate and stop any actions taken to celebrate the referendum. Businesses who print tickets for the ballot, produce commercials to advertise it or provide ballot services to the Catalan government could also be legally liable.

He said the measures were aimed at “guaranteeing the constitutional coexistence framework” in Spain. Although much of the blame for the institutional crisis has been put on the pro-independence bloc in the Catalan parliament, Rajoy’s conservative government is being targeted by other political parties for letting the situation get this far. The pro-independence bloc has argued that full control would benefit Catalonia. The idea gained support amid the high unemployment and harsh austerity measures that came as a result of Spain’s 2008-2013 financial crisis. A return to solid growth, however, has weakened public backing for independence.  Catalan leaders have pledged to proclaim a new republic within 48 hours if the “yes” side wins the referendum, regardless of turnout.

International law, standard and precedence is as multifaceted as the debate in Spain and Catalonia. The UN General Assembly, in its 1973 Declaration of Principles, stressed that a State’s right to territorial integrity and people’s right to self-determination are equally valid, but that the one cannot have primacy above the other when it violates the other. This would mean that Catalonians have the right to self-determination but are obliged to achieve it legally within the Spanish constitutional framework. Conversely this – arguably – also means that a central government must if necessary adopt constitutional change that would make a secession legal and specify how it can be achieved.

Spanish and international precedent is a mixed basket. The central government in Madrid has for decades cracked down on Catalonian and especially Basque separatist movements, parties, activists and politicians. Crack downs have often been brutal and led to decades of armed struggle between the central government and the Basque ETA. A recent referendum in Scottland was held peacefully, but there were critics on both sides, making it probable that the issue of independence from the UK may be picked up again depending in part on Britain’s BREXIT from the EU.

In Crimea the referendum was held without approval from the central Ukrainian government in Kiev. The central government in Kiev would, conversely, not have agreed to allow a secession within the constitutional framework or allowed constitutional reform. The referendum was held with strong Russian support and the referendum as well as Crimea’s accession into the Russian Federation are internationally disputed.

On September 25 the Kurdistan Autonomous Region (KAR) of Iraq has scheduled an independence referendum. The central Shia-dominated government in Baghdad declares the referendum unconstitutional. Leading Iranian, Turkish and Iraqi politicians warned that the referendum would lead to war. The US and most EU countries find the timing bad and urge to wait until ISIS has been defeated. Russia supports the right to hold the referendum. Both Spanish and international precedent shows, in other words, that there is a potential for disastrous developments in Spain and Catalonia.

CH/L – nsnbc 08.09.2017