Catalan Government officially calls referendum for October 1

The Catalan Government has officially called the referendum for October 1. President Puigdemont and all the ministers signed the decree which calls citizens to have their say on Catalan independence in a binding vote. They did it on Wednesday night at 11:30 pm despite a number of warnings from the Catalan opposition and the Spanish cabinet that by signing the decree, they could face criminal charges under Spanish law.

After a 12-hour, very tense debate in Parliament in which lawmakers discussed whether the chamber’s regulations allow fast-tracking passage of the referendum bill, members eventually voted on and passed the legislation. According to the pro-independence parties in the Parliament, the law provides legal framework for the vote.

Soon after its passage, it was published in the government’s official bulletin, and the Catalan executive and its secretary signed the decree. The logistics of the referendum have also been disclosed through another decree.

The Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, made a statement after signing the decree, in which he said that “no one” has the power to seize the Catalans’ right to decide. “We have the chance to decide becoming a state. It does not belong to any government or court,” he said. “The world that progresses is the one taking which takes decisions, and Catalonia is part of this world. Therefore, it will democratically decide on October 1,” Puigdemont added. “To decide through the ballot boxes, listen to the people, accept their verdict. That is democracy,” the Catalan president also said.

The Catalan parliament went on with the plenary session after passing the referendum law despite the time. It tabled the transition law, which is likely to be passed on Thursday, and it also passed the Electoral Board members. The plenary session ended just before 2.00am after 16 hours.

Meanwhile, the Spanish cabinet started the process to ask the Constitutional Court to ban the vote on Wednesday night. The Spanish Constitutional Court is expected to ban both the referendum law and the decree officially calling the vote on Thursday.