Referendum campaign launch draws tough response from Spain
With 55,000 people chosen to oversee polling stations, Spanish executive rules out talks and issues warnings to officials and public workers
With little over two weeks to go until October 1, the campaign and preparations for Catalonia’s independence referendum are in full swing. An example is the selection of 55,000 members of the public to act as polling agents to oversee the vote. Government sources told ACN on Thursday that 55,000 people under 70 had been been chosen at random from the census. According to the ref1oct.cat website, the lottery was carried out on Wednesday, with those chosen to be notified by Friday. Once notified, potential polling agents have three days to present “a justified and documented reason that prevents them from accepting the post.”
State pledges “proper legal response”
Yet, the state government has no intention of standing by while such preparations for the vote take place. Spanish vice president, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, warned on Thursday that activities as part of the referendum campaign will receive “the proper legal response.” Mariano Rajoy’s deputy gave her warning hours before the pro-independence PDeCAT party, in the presence of Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, and former president, Artur Mas, officially launched the referendum campaign. Hundreds of activities have been organized all over Catalonia to promote participation in the vote set for October 1.
Talking to the Telecinco television channel, Sáenz de Santamaria also said that the Guardia Civil police had ways to close down the new referendum websites set up after the authorities pulled the government’s official referendum website on Wednesday. Sáenz de Santamaria also reminded the 712 mayors summoned to court for their open support of the referendum that the law obliges them to appear “as with any other citizen summoned to court.” Finally, responding to Puigdemont’s offer to negotiate the referendum, Sáenz de Santamaria insisted that “no talks were possible” while the Catalan executive refused to give up the referendum and transition laws meant to provide a legal framework for secession.
Meanwhile, the Spanish post office has asked its employees to abstain from providing any services related to the October 1 referendum. Referring to the Constitutional Court’s suspension of legislation and activities that allow a self-determination referendum, the public company aims to prevent the delivery of material, such as voting slips or polling agent notifications, required to make the vote possible.