THE BNG DEFENDS A POLITICAL SOLUTION TO THE SITUATION IN CATALONIA AND THE REPEAL OF ARTICLE 155

Santiago de Compostela, 21 November 2017.- The BNG presented the on-going situation in Catalonia to the Parliament, stressing the Spanish Government’s refusal to find a political solution to a political problem, unlike Canada, the United Kingdom and Denmark regarding Quebec, Scotland and the Faroe Isles

“Instead, the Spanish Government denies the plurinational character of the State and fails to act accordingly”, said the Galizan member for Parliament, Luís Bará, who went on to condemn the “democratic regression” with which the Government responded to the “legitimate right of all peoples to decide their future freely and democratically”.

The exercise of this internally recognised right, he added “should not be seen as going against anyone, but as a positive element fostering democracy”. Signs of this regression include the police requisitioning ballot boxes, seizing voting slips and referendum information, raiding printing presses, media offices and political party headquarters without a warrant, the indictment of 750 mayors, entering and searching the premises of the Catalan Parliament and arresting of politicians and public employees as well as fines and the disqualification and persecution of elected politicians.

“What we are seeing is a clear breach of the separation of powers and a political instrumentalisation of the justice system and the police forces which finally led to the suspension of the Catalan devolved government under Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, amounting to a coup against democracy,” stated Mr Bará. For the Galizan Nationalist Bloc (BNG) the application of Article 155 constitutes “a profound political error and reveals the authoritarian nature of the Spanish State and its unwillingness to seek a democratic and agreed solution based on the will of the majority of the Catalan people”.

Many experts agree that Article 155 was applied is clearly in breach of the legislation. But above and beyond purely legal concerns: “It is anathema to democracy and marks a step backwards that affects us all and which is not going to stop here”. In fact, Mr Bará further stated that everything indicated that the ruling People’s Party will “seek to artificially stifle national organisations in Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galiza by imposing severe electoral restrictions and even banning them”.

In the light of this situation, the BNG called upon the Galizan Parliament to “reject the misuse of the justice system to criminalise and the cut-backs in rights and freedoms carried out by the Spanish Government in response to a political conflict”, whilst at the same time demanding that the Spanish Government suspends application of Article 155 and accepts international negotiations “in order to find a democratic and peaceful solution to this conflict reflecting the will of the Catalan people”.

The private member bill presented by the BNG also demands that the Spanish Government recognises the right to self-determination, Galizan, Catalan and Basque nationhood and support for the politicians, public employees and members of the grassroots movements currently detained pending investigation for upholding the exercise of the right to decide one’s own future.

Finally, the BNG called for a defence of a fully-fledged devolved government and a respect for the legitimacy of the people’s will as expressed in the agreements reached by such democratically elected governments.