Catalan party PDeCAT has decided to withdraw the motion it had agreed with Spain's governing PSOE urging the government to "start a process of political dialogue with the government of Catalonia in which everyone can defend their ideas, aspirations and projects freely, without impositions or impediments", El Nacional has learnt. The aim was to agree upon the means for "Catalan society to determine its future in the framework of the current legal system".
The motion was debated in the Spanish Congress this morning and was to go to a vote tomorrow. Disagreements over the scope of the dialogue, which became clear this morning during the debate, led to the party's decision to withdraw the motion.
The controversy sparked by the motion, the day after a new pro-independence demonstration attended, say Barcelona's urban guard, by over a million people, has caused deep unease within PDeCAT. Sources from the party say they feel as if PSOE "tried to slip a goal through", agreeing on a text on dialogue the same day it voted in the Senate with PP in favour of a motion defending the unity of Spain.
In the morning, the party had said they would accept the text agreed with PSOE because the reference to the "valid legal system" didn't specify Spanish law, so could mean international legislation. The same argument was used by the Catalan government's spokesperson, Elsa Artadi, in the press conference after today's cabinet meeting.
During the debate, PSOE deputy José Zaragoza made it clear that they were prepared to talk about "everything except independence". That comment led ERC to announce they would abstain on tomorrow's vote, having said originally they would vote in favour.
El dialogo no debe tener limites y mucho menos aquellos impuestos desde despachos que retuercen las leyes a su antojo. Por ello, ERC se abstendrá.https://t.co/7qWx946kjg
— Gabriel Rufián (@gabrielrufian) 12 de septiembre de 2018