By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Artur Mas i Gavarró, his deputy, and his education minister face prosecution by the Spanish Government for alleged civil disobedience, abuse of power, usurpation of duties, and embezzlement of public funds according to a statement released by the public prosecutor’s office of the Spanish Government.
In what many see as clearly dubious prosecution by Spanish authorities, President Mas remarked: “It is sad to see that when the Catalan people want to express their opinion … the reaction of the state comes from the courts and prosecutors.”
The action comes several weeks after Catalonia held a non-binding vote on independence from Spain, buoyed by what many Catalonians hailed as a close race with the Scottish Independence referendum, a worrisome event to the Spanish government.
The matter brings into the discussion of Parliamentary Immunity and Executive authority held by other nations, and the chilling effect the threat of prosecution can have for representative government of constituents.
Originally the referendum was to be a binding vote upon the government but after the Spanish government issued a legal challenge the referendum was amended to be non-binding, spearheaded by President Mas who on November ninth called for the symbolic vote. The constitutional court ordered a delay to determine legality of the vote but Mas pressed for its furtherance.
The Catalonian Government reported an eighty percent Yes vote for Catalonia to become an independent nation.
President Mas was elected in 2010 and enjoys popular support among his constituency. The actions of the public prosecutor’s office serve only to dissuade further efforts by Catalonian politicians and citizens from resurrecting the independence cause, which is dearly held by large numbers of its population. It is certainly not going to be an issue that simply goes away for the Spanish Government, especially with the continuing financial upheavals brought by economic conditions—where Catalonia has remained relatively stable and attractive to foreign and domestic investment.
It remains to be seen how far this worrisome action will continue.
By Darren Smith
Source:
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
Mississippi?
Would the US, under any President, allow a state to secede from the Union?
@ William
First. I don’t care what you think. I can infer from your lack of comprehension skills that any conversation with you would be as productive as trying to reason with my cat.
Second. Nothing lasts forever. Countries come and go. People move and change. Just like evolution in the natural world, countries and political viewpoints also evolve, change and mutate.
Just because secession failed once doesn’t mean it is never going to be considered again. If nothing ever changed for OUR country we would still be a part of the British empire. We would still be sacrificing our children to Baal.
People do NOT belong to the government or to the State The government belongs to US. People are free to change their government if they need to. People and businesses are free to move without being punished or fined.
If the people decide that the current government is not functioning in their best interests, they have the right…..actually…..the duty to make a change. Peaceful change is the best and that is why it is so very important to follow the framework of the Constitution. Our founding fathers went through a very violent change and wanted to institute rules that would make it possible to have changes in an orderly fashion.
Elections, balance of power, proper procedures. All the things that Professor Turley is fighting to maintain and without which people might decide that since the Constitution has been shredded that they needs must take other methods to protect themselves from the government.
When the government starts taking on the powers of Kings and Tyrants….. The executive making the laws…… taking powers that are not given in the Constitution ……and flaunting it lawlessness it in our faces…. when the elected representatives do not do their duty and the will of the people…….we can only conclude that the system is breaking down. In a broken government, dictators and tyrants can arise and the people are oppressed. The people then have the duty to protect themselves and attempt to fix the broken government. Using the peaceful means provided by the Framers is the first and most desirable choice. But never forget….we DO have other choices.
http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/tree-liberty-quotation
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.
Read the whole thing.
Lionel Messi scored 3 goals yesterday. He is the Gretzky, the Jordan, of soccer.
Mr. Berry, why so judgemental? DBQ makes legitimate points. We have welcomed many peaceful dissolutions of the past 30 years, such as Czechoslovakia. Heck, even Mr. Palin was part of a movement to make Alaska secede (not a good example possibly, but an example of some common thinking nevertheless…). Why should it be an anti-topic here?? I am curious.
California could take a que from Cardinal Nation. Divide up the state by baseball team affliation. Split Los Angeles and Frisco areas in two so that the Giant Nation is one and Raider Nation is south of there. Similar to L.A. Then, for each move into your own. You could have house swaps. The same thing could go on in Illinois in a three way split: Cub Nation, White Sox Nation and Cardinal Nation down in the Southwest part of what is now Illinois.
@DBQ:
I could almost hear the theme from the twilight zone playing in the back-ground as I read your secession comments.
Thnx for letting us know everything we need to concerning your world-view. I know that I can now safely disregard anything you have to say.