Catalonia vote must go ahead, say MSPS
● Cross-party warning to Madrid over arrests as tensions rise
Spanish authorities must allow a referendum on Catalan independence to go ahead, a cross-party group of MSPS has said as tensions in the province rise.
Parliamentarians from four parties have signed a letter to the Spanish government voicing “grave concern” at a widening crackdown against organisers of the referendum planned for Sunday, which Spain’s constitutional court has ruled is illegal.
The constitutional row has seen Catalan government officials arrested and control over devolved institutions taken by authorities in Madrid.
At the weekend, Catalan ministers rejected calls from the Spanish interior ministry for “joint co-ordination” of the Mossos d’esquadra, the provincial police.
Tens of thousands joined rallies across Catalonia yesterday
0 Thousands joined rallies across Catalonia in support of the move to hold a referendum on independence in support of the vote, which independence campaigners say will go ahead despite ballots being seized by police.
Writing to Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy as well as political leaders in Catalonia, 18 Holyrood parliamentariansaccusedmadridof flouting “the norms of European democracy”.
Their letter follows First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s call last week for Spain to respect Catalonia’s “right of self-determination”.
Among the signatories are Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie, and representatives from the SNP, Labour and the Greens.
Despite their “collective neutrality” on Catalonia’s future, MSPS said the arrest of Catalan government ministers was “no way for a democratic European state to act against its own people”.
In the letter, the MSPS said: “The Spanish government claim to be acting in defence of democracy but threats of legal action against hundreds of democratically elected representatives and repressive acts against an elected government, media organisations and citizens are in no way democratic acts.
“The recent arrest of a Catalan government minister and a number of government staff was a particular violation of the norms of European democracy.
“The situation in Catalonia is a political challenge and it can only be adequately resolved through political action, through dialogue and through allowing the people to express their will democratically.”
Green MSP Ross Greer, who organised the letter, said: “To see a state at the heart of Europe take such oppressive actions against its own people is simply unacceptable.”
Spain’s post-dictatorship constitution only allows the central government to call a referendum on secession and establishes that all Spaniards must have a say in a vote on the country’s sovereignty.