Reform passed to speed up referendum law

The Catalan parliament yesterday passed a reform allowing laws to be approved after a single reading. The amendment to the regulations could 'fast-track’ the law for the October 1 referendum.

The reform had the support of the governing Junts pel Sí coalition and the left-wing CUP party, which between them have a majority in parliament. All the opposition parties voted against it, with warnings that the new regulation should not be used to pass the referendum law, as it would be non-constitutional. Yet, Junts pel Sí MP, Roger Torrent, said the reform was “absolutely constitutional” and accused the opposition parties of having a “fear of Catalans voting.” CUP MP Anna Gabriel approved of the changes, as they could help Catalonia “to achieve self-determination.”

Representatives of the other parties –C’s, PSC, CSQP and PP– accused the pro-independence parties of “marginalizing” the opposition and turning the parliament into a “populist assembly”. In the last plenary session before the summer recess, Catalan PP spokesman Xavier García Albiol compared the Catalan government with the Soviets, who sent their opponents to “Siberia”, while Puigdemont “sends them home”, in reference to the recent shake-up of the cabinet carried out by the Catalan president.