MADRID: Secessionist leaders in Catalonia may call a snap election in an attempt to break the deadlock with Madrid over independence, a senior local politician said on Tuesday, but Spanish authorities made clear that would not be enough.
Spain says it will impose direct rule on Catalonia from Friday to prevent an illegal push for independence, invoking unprecedented powers to dismiss the regional government. The Madrid government said an election would not change those plans.
The Catalan parliament meets on Thursday to agree on a response to Madrid, and many analysts believe the economically powerful region could formally declare independence.
Secessionists in Catalonia say their independence referendum on October 1 — which attracted a 43 per cent turnout and was mostly boycotted by Catalans who want to remain in Spain — has given them a mandate for statehood.
Catalonia said on Monday it was confident that its officials, including the police, would defy attempts by Madrid to enforce direct rule.
Spanish political and business leaders, along with most Catalonian newspapers, have urged Catalan President Carles Puigdemont to call a regional election before he is stripped of his authority.
They say direct rule from Madrid would be a humiliation for Catalonia and pose a serious risk of unrest.
Puigdemont has so far remained silent on the matter of an election but an ally of his pro-independence government said he was actively considering this option.
“We have evidence this is currently on the table,” Carles Riera, a Catalan lawmaker for the anti-capitalist CUP party, told a news conference.
Calling an election would be a face-saving move for Puigdemont as it could either strengthen his mandate if pro-independence parties won or allow him a graceful exit if they did not. The Spanish government said a snap election would be a first step but Puigdemont would also have to withdraw an ambiguous declaration of independence he made earlier this month. The government had moved to cancel Catalonia’s autonomous status because it believed there had been a “serious failure” by Puigdemont to meet his obligations, Justice Minister Rafael Catala said in a radio interview.
“Everything is not fixed just by calling an election.”
Catala said that if Puigdemont appeared before the Spanish Senate, it would help attempts to find a solution to the crisis. — Reuters
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