theborneopost.com

Sanchez proposes referendum on autonomy for Catalonia

Pedro Sanchez

Quim Torra

MADRID: Spain’s prime minister proposed holding a referendum in Catalonia on greater autonomy for the wealthy region but ruled out allowing a vote on independence as demanded by Catalan leaders.
     Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who since coming to power in June has attempted to defuse tensions over Catalonia’s independence drive by holding talks with Catalonia’s separatist president Quim Torra, told radio Cadena Ser the dialogue should lead to ‘a vote… on the reinforcement of Catalonia’s autonomy’.
    “It is a referendum for autonomy, not for aut-odetermination,” he added, without giving a timeline for the proposed vote.
       Catalonia, which has its own distinct language, was granted autonomy under Spain’s 1978 constitution adopted three years after the death of longtime dictator Francisco Franco.
       In 2006, a statute granting even greater powers to the northwestern region, boosting its financial clout, was approved by the Spanish and Catalan parliaments. And in a referendum at the time, over 73 percent of voters in Catalonia approved it.
But in 2010 Spain’s Constitutional Court struck down several articles of the charter, among them attempts to place the distinctive Catalan language above Spanish in the region and a clause describing the region as a ‘nation’. The ruling sparked a rise in support for independence in Catalonia, which is home to some 7.5 million people and accounts for about one fifth of the Spanish economy.
“Catalonia currently has a statute which it did not vote for, so there is a political problem,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez’s minority government, which relies on the support of Catalan separatist parties to pass legislation, has distanced itself from the hardline approach adopted by its conservative predecessor against Catalonia’s separatist drive, which sparked a major political crisis.
The Catalan government pressed ahead with an independence referendum on Oct 1 – even though it had been banned by the courts – and the vote was marred by police violence.
        Catalonia’s regional parliament then voted to declare independence on Oct 27, prompting Madrid to sack the regional government and put the region under direct rule from Madrid. The current regional president Torra was hand-picked by his predecessor Carles Puigdemont who is in self-imposed exile in Belgium to avoid being tried for rebellion in Spain. Polls show Catalans are divided on the question of independence but an overwhelming majority back a referendum to settle the question. — AFP

My comments:
          They are on the same piece of land.  Unlike Sarawak, Sabah and Peninsular Malaya, we are separated by South China Sea.  We Sarawakians are also preparing to secede the Federation of Malaysia for good, which stands for plundering, exploitation, robbing, oppression, suppression and bullying to us Sarawak and Sabah on the Borneo island.
         Sarawak and Sabah are nothing to the federal masters but a huge ATM for them to cash at will.  Yes, my motherland, Sarawak is endowed with rich natural resources like oil and natural gas which are channelled to Peninsular Malaya for their development and a large portion is embezzled in the process.  It is an open secret to all who have paid attention to us.  Sarawak and Sabah, on the other hand, are in appalling state in terms of road system, school buildings, hospitals, living conditions,infrastructures......... when you move towards the rural areas.
       It is said that our oil fields produce petrol valued at RM20 million a day and yet we can only get 5% royalties.  We haven't counted in the nature gas we have.  Our federal masters take the lion's share and ....................................................................give back too little to us.  We, Sarawakians, in general, are furious now.