The Spanish government will not allow another illegal referendum on the independence of Catalonia, Finance Minister Maria Jesus Montero said on Tuesday
MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd June, 2021) The Spanish government will not allow another illegal referendum on the independence of Catalonia, Finance Minister Maria Jesus Montero said on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that the government had approved the pardoning of nine jailed leaders of Catalonia's 2017 independence movement. The released political prisoners will be banned from holding public elected or appointed office and will be put on probation. Following the announcement, the head of Catalonia's regional government, Pere Aragones, said that the Catalan authorities would continue to seek a referendum on independence and negotiate with Madrid to make it legal.
"This government will not allow the events that happened under the PP [People's Party led by Mariano Rajoy, in power during the 2017 referendum] to happen again. This government will not allow the rule of law to be violated, as it was with the illegal referendum and the unilateral declaration of independence," Montero said at a press conference in Madrid.
She stressed that no political party will be allowed to violate the law by convening a referendum on Catalonia's self-determination or declaring the region's independence.
The heads of Spanish and Catalan governments are expected to meet in Madrid by the end of June.
In the October 2017 referendum, which Madrid called illegal, over 90% of voters supported Catalonia's independence. The Spanish government has refused to recognize the results of the vote.
In October 2019, the Supreme Court sentenced 12 Catalan politicians and activists for organizing an unauthorized referendum on independence and issuing a unilateral declaration of independence. Nine people were found guilty of the mutiny and received sentences ranging from nine to thirteen years in prison. Three were found guilty of insubordination and given fines.
