Pep Guardiola urges Catalunya to vote in referendum as thousands demonstrate in support of 'democracy'
Sunday, June 11, 2017 @ 8:15 PM
MANCHESTER City FC manager and former Barça legend Pep Guardiola has urged residents in Catalunya, and natives living elsewhere, to vote in the October 1 referendum on independence.
“Referendum means democracy,” says Guardiola, who has called for the international community to appeal to all democrats in Europe and the world to 'support the right to decide'.
He recalls that the regional government has attempted to agree a deal on the referendum with the national government 18 times, but has always been given a flat 'no' and a refusal to even enter into discussions.
The mythical footballer and trainer says democrats round the world should back the people of Catalunya 'against the abuses of an authoritarian State' which has 'ignored us and said 'no' 18 times' despite the referendum idea being backed by 80% of the region's population – whether they support the region's becoming independent or not.
“We're here to make it patently clear that on October 1, we will be voting in a referendum to decide our future,” Guardiola announced in his manifesto during the march in support of the secession election today (Sunday) in Barcelona, attended by several thousand members of the public.
“And we'll vote whether the State wants us to or not.
“Now that the voice of democracy is about to be gagged, now more than ever is when we should head to the polling stations and defend with all our strength our right to democracy and support our elected representatives.
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