The right to vote is one of the most prized rights in any democracy. All the other rights are more or less a direct consequence of the opportunity that citizens are granted to express their opinion on important subjects through their votes. In Catalonia there is a broad majority of citizens who want to vote and decide the political future of this territory in terms of it remaining a part of Spain or becoming an independent state.
For this reason, on November 9th, 2,305,290 people voted in a singular and exemplary participatory process. It was singular because it took place despite the clear opposition of the Spanish government. It was also singular because it took place in the midst of a professional cyber-attack with clear political intentions, which also placed at risk the basic services provided to citizens by the Catalan government. And singular because the Spanish government tried by every means possible to scare citizens away from voting with legal threats.
Obstacles
But the vote was exemplary because more than 2.3 million people were not afraid and despite threats they still went to vote in numbers similar to voter turnout for the recent elections for the European Parliament, which were organised without any obstacles and with full official backing. Everyone over 16 and resident in Catalonia was invited to give their opinion. With a vote, as is done around the world. It was exemplary because people went to vote with a smile on their face and emotion in their eyes, whether they were 90-year-old grandparents who lived through the Spanish civil war, or young people who only with great effort remember who the dictator Franco was. It was exemplary because it was another peaceful mass mobilisation, like few others one could find around the world. In their final statement an international delegation of parliamentary observers affirmed that “the vote was conducted successfully in challenging circumstances”.
The question everyone is now asking in Catalonia is why Catalans cannot vote in a legal referendum like they had in Scotland and Quebec. Are we second-class citizens? Out of respect for the democratic values that we share with the rest of Europe, I believe we have reached the point where we need to ask this question beyond our own borders, and move beyond the point where “It’s an internal matter for Spain to resolve.” Why can’t the Catalans vote? We are not asking you to support a Yes or a No vote, but simply that our right to vote be recognised.
Prime minister Mariano Rajoy and the Spanish government repeat the same idea over and over: that it is illegal because the Spanish constitution prohibits it. That is not true. The constitution might prohibit secession, but it does not prohibit learning the opinion of citizens about a matter as important as this. Moreover, the constitution is really just a law, a very important one, but nonetheless a law. And to work well, laws are made to serve the citizens and not the opposite.
Despises and threatens
In Catalonia we would be very pleased to see the Spanish government run a campaign like the UK government did with “Better Together” before the Scottish referendum, trying to seduce us to remain a part of Spain. But instead of that, we have a government that despises and threatens Catalonia, and moreover calls one of the largest public mobilisations that has taken place anywhere in Europe a “useless farce” and “undemocratic”. Of course, this does nothing but increase the number of people who are in favour of independence.
Ancient country
Catalonia is an ancient country, a stubborn and resistant nation, which has fought to keep its language, culture and identity, along with a desire for self-government in the framework of the European Union. Now we are decided on having a definitive vote on our future, which cannot be a non-binding consultation, but a referendum like Scotland’s or Quebec’s. We do not seek to harm anyone, much less our good Spanish neighbours. But Catalonia deserves a response, and that response should be in the shape of a ballot and ballot box. Artur Mas is president of the government of Catalonia