Learn a lesson from Spain-catalonia crisis: PHU

The Sri Lankan government should learn a lesson from the incident where the Catalan Region declared independence from Spain, a country which is considered ‘Indivisible’ by its Constitution, the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) said yesterday.

PHU Leader MP Udaya Gammanpila said only because a Constitution says a country is ‘undividable or indivisible’ doesn’t mean a country could not be divided in reality.

“The government continues to say that it will include the term ‘undividable or indivisible’ in a new Constitution as a measure against separatism. Spain, which is an indivisible state, had proven this measure is a futile attempt today. By the Spanish Constitution of 1978, states were given maximum powers. What was the result? Catalans declared independence. Basque region is also on the verge of declaring independence,” he told a news briefing. He said the Spanish Constitution had shown that no clause could prevent regions breaking away from a country when those regions were given maximum powers to act independently. He said interim report of the Steering Committee proposed to devolve power through the ‘Subsidiary Principle’.“this means peripheries should be vested with ample powers to act on their own. In such a situation, the central government will only have the power to manage financial, defence and foreign affairs of the country,” he said.