In 1979, before the hostile backdrop of the latter years of Franco’s dictatorship, large sectors of Catalan society thought that the contemporary statute would be a useful tool in the commencement of the process of self-governance, clamored for from the Assemblea de Catalunya, the popular multi-party organization of the day. Now, almost three decades later, we Catalans once again find ourselves at the edge of a referendum to ratify the text of a new statute, but today’s political situation is much different from that of thirty years ago. Never before has a referendum been put before us to approve a statute while a previous one was still in effect. For this reason, we now have a historical opportunity, and an inescapable duty, and our strength and maturity will allow us to take on new challenges that will lead us to a future of freedom.
We, the undersigned, diverse in age, condition, and ideology, demand that all citizens of Catalonia exercise right to self-determination, and that they make a test plebiscite out of the referendum regarding the Statute: a test plebiscite for the Independence of Catalonia.
During the next vote on the Statute, we will be placing a paper with the legend ”I vote for Catalan Independence” into the official voting envelopes, and casting them into the ballot boxes.
We know that this explicit demand will bring our political agenda to the forefront: our right freely and independently to decide, without outside interference, the future of the Nation of Catalonia, and that it will become a point of reference for all the territories of the Nation of Catalonia.
For Democracy and for Freedom: Vote for Catalan Independence!