Splits in Catalonia’s pro-independence campaign
CATALONIE - Divisions have emerged within Catalonia’s pro-sovereignty movement after a minister in the regional government was sacked for suggesting that this autumn’s independence referendum would probably not go ahead because of fierce opposition from the Spanish government.
A binding vote on 1 October was announced last month by the Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, with voters to be asked: “Do you want Catalonia to be an independent country in the form of a republic?” The conservative government of Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, has vowed to use all the means at its disposal to stop the referendum from taking place, arguing that it would be a clear violation of the country’s constitution. “To all Catalans, to all Spaniards, I want to tell you to maintain confidence in the future as authoritarian delusions ... will never defeat the serenity and harmony of our democratic state,” he said yesterday. Splits in the movement emerged when Jordi Baiget, the minister for business and knowledge, was sacked by Puigdemont on Monday after deviating from the government line by telling an interviewer: “The [Spanish] state is so strong that we probably won’t be able to hold the referendum.”
The move was condemned by senior members of the Catalan independence movement including some of those who have been punished by the courts for their part in the symbolic independence referendum held three years ago. Francesc Homs, a former spokesman for the Catalan government who was barred from office for 13 months over the same referendum also criticised the move, tweeting: “Decisions such as this don’t contribute to the project or make it better just the opposite.”
(Theguardian.com)