Catalan Legislators Raise Stakes in Push for Secession From Spain
By RAPHAEL MINDER

BARCELONA — Catalan separatist lawmakers intensified their standoff with Spain’s central government in Madrid on Monday, approving a resolution that lays out a path for the region to “disconnect” from the rest of Spain by creating its own institutions, including a separate Catalan tax agency and social security system.

The move was immediately denounced by Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, as the latest evidence that Catalan separatists were willing to flout Spanish law in their pursuit of independence.

In response, Mr. Rajoy said he would sign a decree to suspend all the declaration’s possible consequences, pending a ruling by Spain’s Constitutional Court that is expected to strike down Catalonia’s resolution, the latest in a series of steps to break away from Spain that have escalated over the last three years.

“Catalonia is not going to disconnect from anywhere, and there is going to be no breakup,” Mr. Rajoy said.

The standoff over the future of Catalonia — which accounts for a fifth of Spain’s economy — has become increasingly tense as both sides have raised the stakes in each round of the confrontation, and as both Mr. Rajoy and the head of Catalonia’s regional government, Artur Mas, have used the conflict to bolster their own standing in the face of political challenges.

Mr. Rajoy has sought to present himself as the defender of Spanish unity ahead of a general election on Dec. 20. The vote is unlikely to yield a clear-cut winner, according to the most recent opinion polls, with Mr. Rajoy and his Popular Party holding a small lead that would be insufficient to keep their parliamentary majority.

Mr. Mas, too, is fighting for political survival. He and his Convergence Party have been tainted by corruption scandals, and Mr. Mas is supposed to face a vote on his leadership of Catalonia by Thursday. Yet he is struggling to garner sufficient support from lawmakers. One separatist party that voted in favor of the resolution opposes his re-election.

Should he not get sufficient support, the main separatist coalition can either present an alternative candidate or try to prolong the internal negotiations over its leadership until Jan. 9, the deadline for a new Catalan regional president to take office or for new regional elections to be called.

Addressing the Catalan Parliament on Monday, Mr. Mas called on fellow separatists to unite in the “gigantic” challenge of forming a new nation.

“We have the opportunity to create a new country,” Mr. Mas said. Catalonia, he argued, has reached a crossroads, facing a choice between “subordination and freedom.”

The resolution approved on Monday calls for Catalonia to become an independent republic, a goal that Mr. Mas and other separatists aim to achieve within 18 months. Most controversially, the resolution includes a defiant claim that Catalonia’s march toward nationhood need not be subject to approval by Spanish institutions or the country’s Constitutional Court.

In recent days, Mr. Rajoy has met with other national party leaders in order to present a common front against Catalonia’s separatist ambitions. While Spain’s other main parties want Catalonia to remain within Spain, Mr. Rajoy’s rivals in next month’s general election have blamed Mr. Rajoy for allowing the secessionist drive to reach such a precipitous point.

Monday’s vote followed regional elections in September that gave separatist parties the most parliamentary seats, but denied them a majority of the votes. The fact that 48 percent of votes went to separatist parties was hailed by Mr. Rajoy’s government as proof that separatism was not backed by most of the region’s 7.5 million citizens.

Still, the separatist declaration was approved by 72 to 63. The separatists who voted in favor included those of a far-left party known by its Catalan acronym of CUP, which wants to remove Mr. Mas as regional leader.

Mr. Mas did not address CUP’s concerns about his leadership directly on Monday. Instead, he sought to portray himself as the victim of persecution by Madrid. He was recently forced to appear in court over an independence vote in Catalonia a year ago that was also struck down by Spain’s Constitutional Court.

“Who wants to live in a state that prosecutes criminally somebody who promotes the ballot boxes?” Mr. Mas said.

加泰隆尼亞 啟動脫西班牙獨立程序

西班牙東北部的加泰隆尼亞地區議會9日通過一項決議，啟動脫離西班牙的程序與展示脫西的決心。根據決議的九項要點，加區議會將在30天內開始準備草擬新的加區憲法，創設獨立的社會安全與稅務當局，並在18個月後，即2017年從西國出走。

西班牙總理拉荷義誓言將運用所有權力，阻撓加泰隆尼亞脫離西班牙。

加區議會9日以72票支持，63票反對，通過脫西藍圖的決議案。今年9月加區舉行地方選舉時，主張脫西的政黨贏得多數議席。通過的決議案，即是由支持脫西的政黨提出。

西班牙政府旋即有所反應。總理拉荷義於電視發表全國演說，表示政府將針對加區的決議，向憲法法院提出上訴。憲法法院之前曾封阻加區的獨立努力。

華爾街日報報導，法律專家指出，法院幾可確定會禁止加區獨立決議生效，其後將出現富裕的加區與西班牙政府之間的一場意志戰。加區的決議案點名憲法法院是「無效且沒有權力」的機構，決議同時誓言將開始不理會西班牙的國家機構。

決議聲稱：「啟動朝向創立獨立加泰隆尼亞國的程序」，且「這項民主脫離程序並不受制於西班牙國家機構的決定」。

加泰隆尼亞地方政府表示，如今唯一能阻止當地獨立的方法，就是西班牙中央政府與加區達成協議，讓加泰隆尼亞舉辦有法律效力的獨立公投，類似英國允許蘇格蘭進行的公投。但拉荷義總理斷然拒絕，並表示這種公投違憲。

拉荷義告訴全國國民：「我了解許多加泰隆尼亞人的焦慮，但我要告訴他們大可放心。加泰隆尼亞哪裡也不會去，不會有任何脫離的事。」

拉荷義還說，他已與主要反對黨社會黨領袖桑契茲會面，在對付分離主義分子上達成了一致陣線。

能否阻擋加區啟動獨立程序，將是12月20日西國大選前，拉荷義的一大挑戰。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/10/world/europe/catalan-legislators-raise-stakes-in-push-for-secession-from-spain.html

2015-11-10．聯合報．A13．國際．編譯王麗娟