Hedra42 said:
It can't really be compared with the UK's EU referendum because it's a completely different situation - the UK is leaving a union of countries it voted to join by referendum; they're not part of a unified country trying to separate themselves. Technically speaking, any referendum in the UK is advisory (non-legally binding). The fact that it was non-legally binding had no impact on the result of the Brexit vote, or the EU accepting the outcome. But I won't drag this off topic by getting into those details. Take the Scottish independence referendum of 2014. In order for that to take place, the UK and Scottish governments signed the Edinburgh agreement in 2012 to make it legal for the Scottish government to have a referendum by the end of 2014. In contrast, Spain declared the Catalan independence referendum of Oct 1 illegal. I won't pretend that I know or understand all the developments running up to this referendum, but there obviously was no legal agreement beforehand. In the Scottish referendum, there was an 85% turnout with 55% voting to 'No' to independence. In the Catalan referendum, just a 42% turnout with 90% voting 'yes' to independence, but poll stations were being closed, ballot boxes being seized and voters turned away by police. Despite the Catalan results I am reading reports that a low percentage of Catalonians want independence. If this is correct, then IMO it is right for Spain to have snap regional elections. I understand that the Spanish foreign minister has even said that the Catalan leader is still entitled to stand for election - provided he is not in jail. I'm beginning to doubt he will stand, now the news is that he and other Catalan officials have fled to Brussels. |
I wasn't making a comparison between the situations ...
Just raising up the possibility that if a non-legally binding referendum is agreed upon both sides (ie. a motion with no guarantee of resolution just like UK withdrawing it's EU membership since it had to also be approved by the house of commons/lords) then it should be taken just as seriously since it CAN potentially lead into motion ...
Actually, according to the latest polls from Centre for Opinion Studies the plurality of of Catalans desire independence. Here's a short breakdown ...
In favour - (48.7%) Against - (43.6%) Do not Know - (6.5%) No reply - (1.3%)
Then there was another interesting question about what kind of political entity the citizens of Catalonia want ...
Independendent state - (40.2%) Federal state - (21.9%) Autonomous community - (27.4%) Region - (4.6%) Do not know - (4.7%) No reply - (1.2%)
It's plain clear that support for a union is decreasing among Catalan citizens. Before 2012 the plurality used to be in favour of an autonomous community and support for Catalonia being a federal state used to be as high as the high 30's but during 2012 and after the plurality of Catalans now favour becoming an independent state and this has been the trend for 5 years now!
