Artus Mas remains determined to hold the referendum on the independence of Catalonia, coerced by his government partner, Oriol Junqueras, who threatens to withdraw his support if the President does not hold the referendum.
Yesterday, Saturday, the day arrived when the President signed the Decree to call the referendum and thus mobilize more than five million Catalans to vote at the polls, but Mas has not realized, or has not wanted to stop to think that the President of the Spanish Government has the power to stop that referendum, not only because it is unconstitutional but also because of the application of article 410 of the Penal Code, and Mas could be tried for disobedience for calling an illegal referendum. Also for malfeasance, in the event that even if the Constitutional Court rules against the referendum, the champions of independence and saviors of the Catalans take the polls to the streets.
The most likely thing is that article 410 will be applied, which says the following: "Public authorities or officials who openly refuse to duly comply with judicial resolutions... will incur a fine of three to twelve months and special disqualification from public employment or office for a period of six months to two years."
Catalonia is an autonomous community rich in industry, since during the 18th to 21st centuries Catalonia, despite its poverty of natural resources, was one of the pioneering industrial regions in that sector, and now the independentists want to take part of the Spanish wealth for a whim that will lead to nothing, since they would not even meet the parameters established by the European Union to become part of it. It is clear that if Catalonia were to become part of the EU, it would go from being a rich region at the Spanish level to becoming the poorest region in the union.
Many people, including Catalan soccer players, presenters and actors, fill their mouths saying that Catalonia has the right to decide, without realizing that Catalonia and Spain are all of us, so I, as well as the rest of Spaniards, have the right to decide if we want part of the wealth and heritage of the Spaniards to become independent, to break away from the rest of the country.
What is clear is that the signing of the decree calling the referendum for November 9 is simple electoral posturing that will lead Artus Mas to call early elections again. But it must be the Catalans with sanity and a sense of State who demand obedience from a disobedient government.
By Jacobo Medina
