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90% of voters said ‘Yes’ to independence from Spain – Catalan government
People
react as they gather at Plaza Catalunya after voting ended for the
banned independence referendum, in Barcelona, Spain October 1, 2017 ©
Susana Vera / Reuters
RT,
1
October, 2017
The
overwhelming majority of Catalans who participated in the banned
referendum have voted in favor of independence from Spain, the
Catalan government has announced.
Over
two million Catalans, or 90.9 percent of those who voted said ‘Yes’
in Sunday's referendum, regional authorities said. Only 7,87 percent,
or 176,565 voters said ‘No’ when asked if they want to attain
independence from Madrid.
Resultats del Referèndum de #1OCT
The
Catalan government said the result reflects only the ballots
that “were
not seized” during
police raids on polling stations throughout the day.
"Out of the 2,262,424 ballots that were not seized, 2,020,144 were YES votes, 176,566 were NO votes, 45,586 in blank and 20,129 null votes"
“What
kind of a democracy steals ballot boxes?” asked
Vice President Oriol Junqueras, standing next to government
representatives, Raul Romeva and Jordi Turull.
“We
will be consistent with the democratic mandate that citizens have
given us today,” he
added. “Catalonia
has won its right to be a new Republic, if this is what the
Parliament decides.”
Of
Catalonia’s 5.34 million voters, this represents a turnout of
around 42.3 percent, excluding those whose ballots were confiscated
and people who were prevented from voting by police.
Turull
said out of the 844 people that suffered injuries from police
brutality during the vote, 74 have already filed official complaints.
Romeva
noted that during Sunday's events, “everyone
saw that on one side we saw violence and shame, and on the other we
had democracy and dignity.”
“All
the repression falls absolutely on the side of the government of
Rajoy and the police forces that have been brought in for this
purpose,” Romeva
said, according to La Vanguardia.
The
head of the regional government, Carles Puigdemont, earlier praised
the courage millions of Catalan people, who, despite a violent police
crackdown, took to the polling stations to vote.
At
least 844 people were injured on Sunday after being attacked by
police as they were exercising their democratic right to vote. At the
same time least 33 officers were injured in clashes with voters, the
Spanish interior ministry announced.
After
polling stations in Catalonia closed, Spain's Prime Minister
announced that “no
referendum” took
place in the country, claiming the majority of Catalans “obeyed
the law” and
did not want to participate in the independence vote after Madrid
branded it “illegal” and
issued a poll ban. Rajoy praised officers for “performing
their duty,” while
the Spanish foreign minister called the police
response “proportionate.”
Catalan referendum: Catalonia has 'won right to statehood'
Catalan
leader Carles Puigdemont says the Spanish region has won the right to
statehood following a contentious referendum that was marred by
violence.
He
said the door had been opened to a unilateral declaration of
independence.
Catalan
officials later said 90% of those who voted backed independence in
Sunday's vote. The turnout was 42.3%.
Spain's
constitutional court had declared the poll illegal and hundreds of
people were injured as police used force to try to block voting.
Officers
seized ballot papers and boxes at polling stations.
"With
this day of hope and suffering, the citizens of Catalonia have won
the right to an independent state in the form a republic," Mr
Puigdemont said in a televised address flanked by other senior
Catalan leaders.
"My
government, in the next few days will send the results of today's
vote to the Catalan parliament, where the sovereignty of our people
lies, so that it can act in accordance with the law of the
referendum."
In
another development, more than 40 trade unions and Catalan
associations called a region-wide strike on Tuesday due to "the
grave violation of rights and freedoms".
Earlier,
as voting ended, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Catalans
had been fooled into taking part in an illegal vote. He called it a
"mockery" of democracy.
Large
crowds of independence supporters gathered in the centre of the
regional capital Barcelona on Sunday evening, waving flags and
singing the Catalan anthem. Anti-independence protesters have also
held rallies in Barcelona and other Spanish cities.
Catalonia vows to go to intl. courts, calls on EU sanctions against Spain for referendum violence
Sant
Julia de Ramis, Spain October 1, 2017 © Juan Medina / Reuters
Catalan
ministers have announced they are pursuing international justice
following the Spanish government’s crackdown on voters in the
Catalonia independence referendum.
Announcing
a two pronged response strategy, officials added that a process to
institute anti-Madrid sanctions in the EU is already underway.
"We
will initiate formalities to activate the mechanisms of sanctions...
We think that the actions of the Spanish state that the whole world
is witnessing, put the image of the EU as a guarantor of democracy
and human rights at risk," Catalan Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Raul Romeva told a news conference in Barcelona Sunday.
'There
was no independence referendum in Catalonia today' – Spain PM
RT,
1
October, 2017
After
polling stations closed in Sunday's controversial Catalonia
independence referendum, Spain's Prime Minister announced that "no
referendum" took place in the country.
"No
referendum has been held in Catalonia today," PM Mariano Rajoy
declared at a news conference Sunday evening.
Claiming
that the majority of people in Catalonia did not want to participate
in the independence poll, the prime minister said those citizens had
obeyed the law.
A look into the history of Catalonia’s desire for independence from Spain https://youtu.be/S1OYwUTUTas
He
also defended the actions of Spanish law enforcement officers, saying
police "performed their duty" in Catalonia.
Catalan
authorities earlier announced that more than 760 people were injured
in the police crackdown on voters in the poll deemed illegal by
Madrid.
Rajoy
said the voting has damaged the "coexistence" of people in
the country and has "only served to sow division."
In
Barcelona, Rajoy's speech was broadcast on a big screen in one of the
city squares, with people reacting with apparent anger to the PM's
statements.
Spanish PM Rajoy's press-conference after #CatalanReferendum
LIVE NOW: rupt.ly/7wcvq pic.twitter.com/Ofyw5H0XCM
#CatalanReferendum - Barcelonans react to Rajoy's press-conference #plazacatalunya
LIVE: rupt.ly/xd9wz pic.twitter.com/H7rFserbpZ
Earlier
in the day, Barcelona's mayor Ada Colau called on the Spanish PM to
resign.
Speaking
on local TV, she accused Rajoy of being a "coward," adding
that the prime minister had "crossed all the red lines with the
police actions against normal people, old people, families who were
defending their fundamental rights."
Come on Robin. A simple internet search will show that in 2015 there were 2 million registerd voters in Catalonia, so three and a half million did not vote. This was an illegal referendum.
ReplyDeleteAlso, who counted teh votes? did anyone see teh votes being counted? In the Scottish and Brexit referendums you could see that paper ballots were being counted and everyone agreed it was fair. These votes could have been counted in a warehouse, or simply made up.
You would make great company for the fascist Rajoy and Theresa May!
DeleteMany Catalans will have changed their minds pronto after the tactics of the madrid government.