Catalunya calls off public consultation on independence

CATALUNYA'S regional president Artur Mas has decided not to go ahead with the 'public consultation', or non-binding referendum on November 9.

The Bill of Law passed recently in the regional Parliament has been temporarily suspended by the Constitutional Court while it looks into the matter in greater detail, but this is unlikely to be resolved by the due date.

It means if Mas goes ahead, he could face criminal charges for sedition, or mutiny.

Part of the Bill has been agreed by the court – the section relating to the public being allowed to take part in policy-making processes – but the rest remains blocked, at least for the meantime.

To this end, Mas has not been able to publish the provisional register of voters, based upon the electoral census, which was due to appear on Friday (October 10).

He called a summit meeting at the Pedralbes Palace in Barcelona yesterday (Monday) with the leaders of all parties who are in favour of a referendum.

These include his own deputy president, Joana Ortega and the minister for the presidency Francesc Homs; Oriol Junqueras of Esquerra Republicana Catalana ('Catalana Left Republic', or ERC); Jordi Turull (CDC); Ramon Espadaler of Unió i Convergència ('Convergence and Union', or CiU); Joan Herrera (ICV-EUiA) Joan Mena (Eco-Socialists); and Isabel Vallet and David Fernández of CUP.

The summit was supposed to be a secret meeting, but the media found out and reporters surrounded the Pedralbes Palace whilst it was in progress.

ERC has criticised the regional government's decision to 'give up on' the public consultation on November 9, and all parties are pushing for another way to be found using the approved part of the Bill of Law relating to society's participation in political decision-making.

They intend to carry on with the meeting today (Tuesday) to try to reach a solution.

Catalunya residents and natives who have voiced an opinion on the subject include Barça FC forward Gerard Pique, partner of Colombian-born pop-rocker Shakira and father of her son Milan.

Pique says he is not pro-independence, but feels strongly that a non-binding referendum should go ahead to find out what the region's people actually want for their future.