Pablo Iglesias defends Catalan referendum as essential

Pablo Iglesias, the leader of Podemos, the political party which emerged in Sunday’s elections as the third most voted in Spain, reiterated yesterday that holding a referendum in Catalonia on whether it wants to secede from Spain ‘is essential’. Iglesias made this statement after being asked whether the referendum would be a red line in negotiations to form a coalition with the Socialists that might enable their leader, Pedro Sanchez, to become the new president of Spain.

‘We are the only party which is defending without any reservations, both in Catalonia and in Spain, the need for a referendum’, said Iglesias, who has stated that he regards the so-called right to decide as the best way to ensure the unity of Spain, a country that is ‘multinational and diverse’.

Iglesias also said that En Comú Podem, Compromis-Podem, and En Marea, Podemos’s regional affiliates in Catalonia, Valencia, and Galicia, respectively, should have their own, separate representation in parliament. ‘It’s essential to have a Catalan, a Galician, and a Valencian parliamentary group. In order for the country to remain united, we must recognize its multinational nature. So I hope that the parliamentary leadership is able to understand that Spain is multinational and diverse and that these parliamentary groups need to exist. We have shown that diversity and plurality work best’, he said.


Xavier Domènech: ‘Eight million people voted in support of a referendum in Catalonia’

Xavier Domènech, the leader of En Comú Podem, which won the elections in Catalonia, weighed in on the outcome of yesterday’s election: ‘Eight million people voted for the right to decide and in favour of a referendum in Catalonia’ and these voters came from everywhere in Spain, he said.

In Domènech’s view, if Podemos is to lend its support in order to form a government, it will be on the condition that Spain enter a phase in which there is an agreement to rewrite its constitution and in which a ‘plurality of proposals’ is taken into account. Otherwise, he said, the majority needed to govern will remain elusive.
Domènech said that the electoral result obtained by En Comú Podem is a historic victory for Catalonia, as it represents a vote for social rights, for a democracy worthy of the name, and for the nation’s right to decide its political future.