Demotix/Sarai Rua Fargues. All rights reserved."We have a democratic mandate," said Artur Mas, the Catalonian leader, after the regional election on September 27. Separatist parties had won a majority of seats in the Catalonian parliament in the election they had promoted as a plebiscite on secession from the rest of Spain.
But do they? What is the democratic argument in the matter?
The separatists did not win a majority of votes, they gained 48 percent, and their majority of seats is a slim one. But set that aside. Say there is a valid majority in the regional parliament for secession. Is that a democratic mandate for the right to leave the union?
