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Monday, 16 October 2017, 10:12
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Mariano Rajoy's government is to wait until 10am on Thursday to apply measures to counter the Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont's drive for independence.
Deputy prime minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría said in a press conference on Monday morning that the government was sorry that Puigdemont had "decided not to respond to the requirement" sent out on Wednesday to clarify whether he had proclaimed independence by Monday morning.
In its ultimatum, Madrid had laid down a second deadline, however, asking Puigdemont to rectify by Thursday 19th and explain what steps he plans to take to fulfil his obligations once again.
Puigdemont's letter
Catalonia's regional president Carles Puigdemont failed to give a clear "yes" or "no" answer as to whether he had announced a formal declaration of independence on Wednesday last week.
Instead he sent the government a two-page letter in which he maintained the ambiguity of his message, although appeared to insinuate that the answer was negative.
"The suspension of the political mandate delivered via the ballot boxes on 1 October [the day of the illegal referendum] shows our strong will to seek a solution and not confrontation," said the letter.
This lack of clarity was not considered by the central government as a response to the question about the declaration of independence, explained the Justice Minister, Rafael Catalá, on Monday morning.
What was clear from the letter is that Puigdemont hopes to gain time and send a message to the international community that his fight is a peaceful one, and his intention is to sit down and talk, but that it is the prime minister Rajoy who refuses to do so. In his letter he criticises Rajoy for responding to his "offer of dialogue" with the threat of "suspending the self-rule of the region" and repeated his proposal for talks over a period of two months.
Article 155
The government's reponse to an unsatisfactory message from Puigdemont by Thursday will be to invoke article 155 of the 1978 Spanish Constitution, a tool that has never been used before.
This would not totally suspend Catalonias self-rule status, but would allow Madrid to intervene for a period of time if it felt that Spain was threatened, including possibly taking control of the regional Mossos police force or even calling regional elections.
There has been some disagreement among lawyers and experts about how far Madrid could legally go under the so-far untested Article 155.
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