Spain breaches rights for national self-determination, calls Catalonian referendum unconstitutional

[dipsydoodle]

Spain's Constitutional Court on Tuesday partially struck down a sovereignty claim approved by lawmakers last year in the northern region of Catalonia, a vital step toward a referendum on full independence, court papers showed. Spain’s Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday that a referendum in Catalonia on independence from the rest of the country would violate the supreme law.

In January 2013, Catalonia's regional parliament unanimously adopted a declaration of self-determination saying the people had the right to vote on breaking away from the rest of Spain.

The Madrid court declared "null and unconstitutional" the first point in the Catalan ruling which said the people of the region had the legal right to infringe the Spanish constitution.

Catalan President Artur Mas has promised to hold a referendum on secession from Spain on November 9, saying Catalonia should be a separate state within the European Union and the euro zone.

http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_26/Spain-breaches-rights-for-national-self-determination-calls-Catalonian-referendum-unconstitutional-4145/

Should be a separate state within the European Union and the euro zone.......Spain would reject an application for membership same as Italy would for the Venice region.

[xchrom]

1. du rec.

[Jesus Malverde]

2. I'm curious to see how Venice and Scotland work out...nt

[dipsydoodle]

4. Scotland has complete freedom of choice

and I wouldn't like to predict which way it will go not that I mind either way : its their affair. Its still up in the air what they would do for currency if they did leave the UK - they couldn't have the Euro at least until their Debt:GDP ratio was established.

Venice falls in with Catalonia inasmuch if they did vote to secede Italy would veto EU membership.

[bemildred]

3. The 20th century was not kind to empires, and the 21st is going to be much worse. nt

[The Magistrate]

5. I Certainly Sympathize With The Catalans, Sir

But they are going to have to get the assent of the Madrid government if this is to be accomplished without violence.

It is hard to argue with a ruling by a Supreme Court that a regional government has no right to disregard a national constitution. That would seem pretty much a foregone conclusion.

Independence referendums would be significant as political expressions, establishing the local popularity of secession, which in turn would, at least in a reasonably functioning democracy, place considerable onus on a central government to make some accommodation, at least if the sentiment of people in other regions was neutral or supportive of the detachment.

It is true that Spain is, at bottom, a sort of vest-pocket land empire in its origin: this is something many people do not adequately appreciate nowadays.

[bemildred]

6. These things were always messy, Sir.

The Greeks were always having to put aside their intellectual arguments and send out an expedition to suppress the helots again. The plantation owners lived in constant fear of slave revolts. When you seek to rule over others, you always must expect resistance. We are an obstreperous lot, or enough of us are anyway.

Modern technology just makes the situation much messier, and the alternative, avoiding modern technology, has its own severe drawbacks. Hmm. With modern communications it's harder to keep your enemies disorganized and ignorant, to control the framing of the debate, and with modern weapons, it's hard to limit the damage a few pissed off people can do, let alone a few hundred thousand. And that's the other thing, there are way the heck too many of us for a modest bit of violence to suppress revolt. You need to compete like the big names, like Assad is doing in Syria, like WWII, wholesale killing, to keep the lid on. And few leaders today have the kind of unwavering support to get away with that sort of killing and the resulting chaos.

[The Magistrate]

7. Very True, Sir

And the rulers of former times were fortified by resolute conviction there were inherently superior, which engendered among the ruled a conviction of inherent inferiority, and such things matter when a thing comes to the sticking point.

Nowadays, as can be told from the shrillness of the squeals, the people on top are generally beset with a nagging worry they do not really belong there, and just about everyone else thinks they would be on top of the heap if they only had their rights or a bit of luck....

[bemildred]

8. Don't get me started.

You can't tell the buffoons from the serious actors any more. I'll just say I think their doubts are well-founded. Many of our elites would be happier and more useful doing some satisfying form of easy, repetitious manual labor. Trump would make a good locker-room towel boy for example, he's perfect. The Kock brothers could pump gas.

There, see? You got me started.

[The Magistrate]

9. Much Too Early for Me, Too, Sir

I have not yet finished my first cup of coffee....