• Podemos cedes veto power over post-election coalitions to Catalan partners
• Accord effectively shackles governing pact to Catalan referendum litmus test
Catalonia’s regional En Comú Podem (In Common We Can) partners of national anti-austerity Podemos have managed to lock-in automatic veto power over any national governing pact negotiated by Podemos following 26th June (26-J) second round national elections, once again making the issue of Catalan independence a major obstacle to overcome in the formation of a progressive coalition government involving Podemos and the Socialist party (PSOE).
The regional En Comú Podem coalition pact reached by Podemos, Barcelona mayor Ada Colau’s Barcelona en Comú movement and five other regional political parties and platforms gives Podemos’ partners in Catalonia the right to approve or reject any governing pact or alliance reached by Podemos at the national level following the 26-J vote. The criteria for approval of a governing pact with the Socialists or other parties include conformity with the the basic program points of the En Comú Podem coalition, not least of which is support for a binding referendum on Catalan independence from Spain.
In presenting the basic points of the PSOE’s 26-J election program, Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez already has firmly rejected a referendum on Catalonia that does not include prior reform of the Spanish Constitution, which currently does not allow initiatives or plebiscites that promote regional independence from Spain. The ability of Podemos’ En Comú Podem partners to block an alliance with the Socialists on the question of a Catalan referendum put Spain’s two largest left-wing forces on a post-election collision course, even before the campaign for the 26-J elections has formally begun.
► Read More in Spanish at El Periódico …
► Read election registration doc in Spanish for En Comú Podem, here …
► List of electoral coalitions approved by the Central Electoral Commission …
