Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who was sacked by the Spanish government over the region’s declaration of independence, has called for “democratic opposition” to Madrid.

“It’s very clear that the best form of defending the gains made up until now is democratic opposition to article 155,” Puigdemont said in a brief statement on Saturday.

“We continue persevering in the only attitude that can make us winners. Without violence, without insults, in an inclusive way, respecting people and symbols, opinions, and also respecting the protests of the Catalans who do not agree with what has decided the parliamentary majority,” he said.

The deposed Catalon president further said that he and his team would keep working “to build a free country.”

In a copy of his speech sent to AFP, he signed off as “president of the Catalan government,” implying he still considered himself the head of the autonomous region.

He also called on Catalans to defend the republic proclaimed by the regional parliament.

“We need to keep defending the stage in which we have entered with a tireless sense of civic responsibility and peaceful commitment,” he said, adding that “in a democratic society, only parliaments can pick or dismiss presidents.”

The declaration comes nearly a month after Catalonia held an independence referendum on October 1. The Spanish government dismissed the vote as illegal.

On Saturday, the Spanish government announced its decision to invoke article 155, which can, upon application, strip Catalonia of its key autonomous powers and allow the central government to impose direct rule over the wealthy region.

The move by Madrid came after the Catalan parliament voted to declare independence from Spain on Friday.

Soon after the vote, the upper house of Spain’s parliament, the Senate, made the unprecedented move of authorizing Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government to rule Catalonia directly.

Speaking during a televised speech on Friday, Rajoy said his cabinet had dismissed the regional president and parliament and ordered regional elections to be held on December 21.

Apart from removing the Catalan president, the Spanish premier also fired the region’s police chief and ordered central government ministries to take over the Catalan administration.

In reaction to Madrid’s move, the main secessionist group, the Catalan National Assembly, urged civil servants to respond with “peaceful resistance” and disobey the Spanish government’s orders.

Rajoy’s cabinet later convened to adopt the first measures to govern Catalonia directly.

“Exceptional measures should only be adopted when no other remedy is possible,” Rajoy said during his speech to the Senate on Friday morning. “In my opinion there is no alternative. The only thing that can be done and should be done is to accept and comply with the law.”

Separately on Friday, Spain’s constitutional court started a review of the vote held in the Catalan parliament, saying the state prosecutor and other parties had three days to make allegations of wrongdoing.

A spokesman for Spain’s public prosecutor’s office said it would file rebellion charges next week against the Catalan leader. A court will then decide whether to accept the charges against Puigdemont.

Catalonia already enjoys a high degree of autonomy, but its drive for independence has its roots in the cultural and political suppression that the region experienced during the 1939-1975 Franco dictatorship.

Source: Presstv

Catalonia’s regional parliament has declared independence from Spain, while Madrid immediately imposed direct rule over the region.

The independence motion was approved in the 135-seat chamber on Friday as 70 Catalan lawmakers voted in favor, 10 against. Two ballot papers were blank. The ballot was boycotted by the opposition parties: the Socialist Party, the People’s Party (PP) and Ciudadanos.

Commenting on the news, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called for calm.

“I ask for calm from all Spaniards. The rule of law will restore legality in Catalonia,” Rajoy said in a tweet minutes after Catalonia’s declaration of independence.

As the independence vote went through, more than 2,000 pro-independence Catalans gathered in the Ciutadella Park outside the regional parliament in Barcelona, chanting “Liberty” in Catalonia and singing traditional songs.

Soon after the vote, the upper house of Spain’s parliament in Madrid made the unprecedented move of authorizing Rajoy’s government to rule Catalonia directly.

In reaction to Madrid’s move, the main secessionist group, the Catalan National Assembly, urged civil servants to respond with “peaceful resistance” and to disobey the Spanish government’s orders.

Rajoy’s cabinet later convened to adopt the first measures to govern Catalonia, which could include dismissing the Barcelona government and assuming direct supervision of Catalan police forces.

“Exceptional measures should only be adopted when no other remedy is possible,” Rajoy said during his speech to the Senate on Friday morning. “In my opinion there is no alternative. The only thing that can be done and should be done is to accept and comply with the law.”

Moreover, Spain’s constitutional court started a review of the vote held in the Catalan parliament. The court said on Friday that the state prosecutor and other parties have three days to make allegations.

Separately, a spokesman for Spain’s public prosecutor’s office said it would file rebellion charges next week against Catalan secessionist leader Carles Puigdemont.  A court will then decide whether to accept the charges against the Catalan president.

Catalan drive faces EU opposition

The independence declaration made other countries and institutions to recognize Catalonia. However, the European Union and some countries and institutions have already made it clear they would not do so and would back the position of Madrid.

European Council President Donald Tusk said in a message posted on Twitter on Friday after the vote, “For EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor.”

He also called on Spain to favor “force of argument, not argument of force.” French President Emmanuel Macron, reacting to the news, said, “There is a rule of law in Spain with constitutional rules. Mariano Rajoy wants these rules to be respected and he has my full support.”

Germany also backed the Spanish premier’s position, saying the unilateral declaration of independence violated the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Spain. Commenting on the latest developments in Spain, the United States supported Madrid’s measures to prevent Catalonia’s secession, saying the region is an integral part of the country.

“Catalonia is an integral part of Spain, and the United States supports the Spanish government’s constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a NATO official said Spain was an important ally, adding that Catalonia was “a domestic matter which should be resolved within Spain’s constitutional order.”

Spain has been in turmoil since the Catalan independence referendum that took place on October 1 and was considered by Madrid as illegal. Puigdemont claimed that 90 percent of the voters in the referendum had backed secession, but the turnout had been put at only 43 percent.

Source: Presstv

Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says the “only possible” way to restore legality in Catalonia, which according to him has been liquidated by regional President Carles Puigdemont, is for Madrid to take control of the autonomous region.

Speaking to the parliament on Wednesday, Rajoy said that the government’s plan to invoke Article 155 of the Spanish constitution, which allows Spain to impose direct rule on Catalonia was “exceptional.”

He said he hoped the measure, which includes the curtailment of the Catalan parliament and sacking the government of Puigdemont, would not take too much time to implement.

Rajoy said his government would hold regional elections in Catalonia as soon as possible, but only once law and order was restored.

He has previously called on Spain’s Senate to trigger the Article 155.  The Senate is expected to approve the measures on Friday.

Catalonia has so far been defiant and threatened to unilaterally declare independence if Madrid started the process of suspending the region’s autonomy.

The wealthy region held a banned referendum on secession on October 1. Local officials claimed that 90 percent of the voters in the referendum had backed secession, but the turnout had been put at only 43 percent.

Source: Presstv

The Italian government is ready to open negotiations with Lombardy and Veneto after the two wealthy regions voted overwhelmingly for greater autonomy, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Tuesday.

Unlike a recent referendum on independence in Catalonia, which sparked a political crisis in Spain, the Italian votes this weekend were legal, but not binding on Rome.

Making clear he had no intention of making a drama out of the twin ballots, Gentiloni said he was ready to discuss how Lombardy and Veneto wanted to proceed.

“Here we are talking about how to make Italy work better. We are not calling into question Italy and its unity,” Gentiloni said during a visit to an oil refinery close to Venice, the capital of the northeastern Veneto region.

“The government is ready to look into the merits of this … it will be a complex discussion that can’t be done in five minutes,” he added.

Regional governments have the right to ask for greater oversight in 23 policy areas, including the environment, infrastructure, health and education.

The most delicate negotiations are likely to be over tax returns, with Veneto demanding that it be allowed to spend 90 percent of all the taxes raised on its own territory.

Among Italy’s 20 regions, Lombardy and Veneto account for just under a third of its economic output and are home to around 25 percent of its population.

Italy’s poorer, less developed southern regions are worried that they will receive less funding in future if Lombardy and Veneto get to keep more of their own tax take.

Five regions in Italy — the islands of Sicily and Sardinia and three relatively small border areas with linguistic minorities — already have special autonomous status under the constitution. Veneto wants to join them.

However, this would need a change to the constitution, which the government seems unwilling to accept.

“We are ready (to grant greater powers) within the limits fixed by our laws and by our constitution,” Gentiloni said.

Negotiations are likely to take many months and look certain to be interrupted by national elections due by next May. Any deal between the government and the regions will have to be approved by parliament.

The latest opinion polls suggest a hung parliament will emerge from the forthcoming election, making it impossible to predict the government formation that will carry on the negotiations.

(Source: Reuters)