Barcelona, Sep 30 (IANS/EFE): The regional government of Spain's Catalonia autonomous community Tuesday suspended its campaign for the Nov 9 referendum on independence, after the country's Constitutional Court accepted an appeal filed by the Spanish government against the initiative.
The move followed a decision Monday by the Constitutional Court to consider the appeal, thus automatically freezing temporarily the referendum plans by one of Spain's richest and most industrialised regions.
Catalan presidency counsellor Francesc Homs affirmed however in a press conference Tuesday that "the process continues".
"We are in a context in which nothing has ended, there is a legal situation which is not being ignored but the intention is to carry on and we shall do things to fulfill our engagements within the law," the politician said.
The referendum on independence was a pledge by the nationalist centre-right party governing Catalonia during the 2012 regional elections, with the backing of pro-independence parties and social organizations.
Homs Tuesday ruled out a change in plans to carry out the vote.
The regional government would work at a "different pace" but did not consider other options than that the Constitutional Court would lift its suspension and allow the referendum to proceed Nov 9, he said.
He described the Spanish state's appeal to the constitutional tribunal, in charge of interpreting the constitution, as "a politically-motivated move".
In addition to a temporary freeze on plebiscite plans, the court also temporarily nullified the law passed by the Catalonian parliament that sidesteps articles in the Spanish constitution reserving to the central government the right to hold what the Catalans term a "consultation".
Homs said Catalonia's government would present "within hours" its own allegations to the court demanding the lifting of the temporary freeze, and "within days" regarding the legality of the Catalan consultation law and the decree calling the plebiscite.
He added that the suspension of the campaign should not "disappoint" Catalans, because "what would be disappointing would be for us to forget our engagement and the mandate we have".
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who strongly opposes Catalonia's independence drive, has said the referendum is "against the law, ignoring democracy, dividing the Catalans, and pushing them away from Europe and the rest of Spain".
The cabinet agreed that holding the vote would be a violation of the constitution, as it gave citizens of Catalonia the exclusive right to decide on the unity of the Spanish nation, a question that should be considered by all Spaniards.
Rajoy has offered Catalan President Artur Mas "dialogue within the law" and has said "there is still time to right the ship".