The President of the Catalan Government, Carles Puigdemont, together with the ministers of the Executive Council signed on Wednesday the decree calling for the referendum on October 1. The Law on the Self-determination Referendum was approved by a majority in the Catalan parliament and came into force following its publication in the Official Gazette.

 

In a statement from the legislative chamber, President Puigdemont  said that “no one” has the power to seize the Catalans' right to decide. “We have the chance to decide on becoming a state. This decision does not belong to any administration or court” other than the people themselves, the President affirmed. “The world that progresses is the one which takes its own decisions, and Catalonia is part of this world. Therefore, it will democratically decide on October 1” through “ballot boxes, by listening to the people and accepting the verdict. That’s what democracy is”, he added.