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Rajoy gives Catalonia until Monday to clarify and Thursday to rectify

The PM wants Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont to say if he has properly declared independence or not, as the first step towards taking possible direct control under Article 155

SUR

Monday, 16 October 2017, 11:32

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Prime minister Mariano Rajoy lit the fuse on the use of Article 155 of the Spanish constitution on the separatist Catalan government on Wednesday by calling on regional leaders to clarify the confusing situation as to whether they were declaring unilateral independence or not.

Ultimatum issued

In a televised statement Rajoy said: If [Catalan president] Puigdemont returns to the law, this will mark the end of this period of uncertainty and things will calm down. He continued: Puigdemont also has the chance to heed the clamour from so many parts ... to return Catalonia to peaceful coexistence, referring to calls from Catalan business leaders and the European Union for the regional government to put a stop to its unilateral independence plans.

Rajoy's appearance followed a special meeting of the Spanish cabinet in which ministers debated the best course of action following the previous evening's tense session of the Catalan regional parliament.

Confusing address

Carles Puigdemont had at once appeared to publicly declare independence, and then put it on hold in the hope that Madrid might enter into dialogue or seek mediation. This was followed by separatist MPs signing a document that independence had been declared.

Even members of Puigdemont's own separatist coalition of MPs were unclear if this meant independence had been declared or not.

Formal notification from Rajoy

In a formal letter addressed to the Catalan government on Wednesday, central government said that it was giving it until Monday (16 October) to state if it considered it had declared independence or not and until Thursday (19 October) to rectify the situation.

If not, Madrid said it was prepared to use Article 155 of the Spanish constitution, which gives it powers to temporarily intervene in the region's self rule.

Later on Wednesday, Mariano Rajoy appeared in the Spanish parliament to address MPs and explain more on the government's position on the political crisis.

What isn't legal isn't democratic... the referendum on 1 October completely failed. No supposed result can legitimise a political decision, and certainly not the independence of Catalonia, Rajoy said.

Rajoy appeared to enjoy broad support from the main national political parties for his decision to give an ultimatum to Carles Puigdemont ahead of possibly using Article 155.

Talks on Constitution

However Pedro Sánchez, leader of the Socialist main opposition party, announced that he had secured concessions from Rajoy at a meeting earlier on Wednesday that the issue of constitutional reform would be discussed within two months. Addressing MPs towards the end of their session, Rajoy confirmed that a commission on the Constitution would be called.

As before this week's events, opposition to the central government's position in Catalonia came from the left-wing Unidos Podemos alliance and other regionalist parties.

Article 155 of the Constitution, if imposed, would allow Madrid to intervene in the running of the regional government in Catalonia, including taking direct control of the regional Mossos police force. Lawyers are divided over how far Madrid could go as the clause has never been used before.

Disappointment in Barcelona

In Catalonia there had been widespread disappointment among protesters near the parliament building in Barcelona on Tuesday when Carles Puigdemont, in his address to regional MPs, appeared to fudge the long-promised declaration of independence they had been calling for.

In that speech he said: The ballot boxes say yes to independence, referring to the banned vote on 1 October. And this is the route that I have committed to follow, he went on, before suggesting that a period was need to restore calm.

The events in Barcelona showed up tensions in the separatist parties supporting Puigdemont. His parliamentary appearance was delayed for an hour on Tuesday night to give time for the radical-left-wing CUP party to study the text of the speech.

They have said that a Catalan republic should immediately be declared following the regional government's route map and that they would wait no longer.

These differences between the more moderate and more anti-system elements of the regional MPs supporting independence was said to be at the heart of the apparent hesitation of the declaration. It wasn't clear if Puigdemont was going to continue to enjoy the support of CUP in the coming days.

The option of regional elections being called in Catalonia was also discussed among the ruling parties but, sources said, it had been ruled out for the moment.

In reply to Mariano Rajoy's ultimatum on Wednesday afternoon for the situation to be clarified, Carles Puigdemont said in an interview with CNN that he proposed a dialogue without conditions.

Meanwhile Rajoy announced in front of MPs that he was prepared to discuss only financial and self-rule arrangements with Catalonia and in the context of the law and existing Constitution.

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