The Catalan pro-independence platform Debat Constituent - Constituent Debate - has presented an eighty-question survey with the intention of "creating and structuring the constitutional basis for the political future of Catalonia, based on public participation."
The presentation, fronted by Catalan singer Lluís Llach this Saturday in the Catalan city of Tortosa, attracted around 200 people, and is the first of a series of seven sessions that will be held over September and October, which will culminate in a final document summarizing the views and opinions expressed given by the participants on each question.
The 80 questions are divided into seven sections: constituent elements - including, among other aspects, debate on the model of the state, language and nationality; civil, political, cultural and social rights; political participation and the organization of the three powers of the state - legislature, executive and judiciary; territorial organization; economic regime; territory and natural resources and security, and international relations.
At today's first session, only those issues on which there was no general consensus were submitted to debate: "It would be absurd to ask whether it was necessary to recognize the freedom of expression or if there was a need for a government to exist," explains Debat Constitutent.
Those taking part were also not questioned about "those institutions and democratic rights achieved as a result of years of social struggle", since the group considers that these rights cannot be reversible. Most questions have a multichoice format, allowing participants to choose between several different options, although in many cases, alternative answers can be written out in full.
Eventually, the Debat Constituent platform will make the results of the questionnaire available to "political representatives, calling on them to convene an assembly or a constituent parliament".