an hour agoEven the opposition in Spain seeks military measures against Catalonia (Photo)
Periskopi(9 years ago)
(9 years ago)The Spanish government has secured opposition support for the distribution of the Catalonian parliament and holding new elections there in January in its bid to ease the regional government's push for independence. The Socialists, the main opposition, said on Friday they would support specific measures to impose central rule in the region [...]
The Socialists, the main opposition, said on Friday they would support special measures to impose central rule in the region to undermine the Catalan government with a divisive mind and end a crisis that has damaged the euro and damaged confidence in the fourth largest Eurozone economy, reports the “Associated Press”, the Periscopi broadcast.
Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who wants opposition support to be able to present a united front in crisis, has called an emergency cabinet meeting Saturday to pave the way for Madrid to create central control in the region.
The government on Friday will not confirm whether the January elections formed a portion of the package.
The logical subx0nd of this process would be the new elections created within the legal framework”, government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo said at a weekly government press conference.
It will be the first time in Spain's last four decades of democracy that Madrid has called the constitution to effectively dismiss a regional government and call new elections.
Rajoy requires a consensus as broad as possible before taking the step, which has raised the prospect of more large-scale protests in Catalonia, where pro-independence groups have been able to bring more than a million people to the streets.
Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, a former journalist who heads the secession campaign, has refused to give up independence, citing a crushing vote in favour of secession in a referendum on October 1st.
Catalan authorities said about 90 percent voted for independence, although only 43 percent of voters participated. Opposers of the secession mostly stayed at home.
Spanish courts have decided that the referendum will be unconstitutional, but Puigdemont says the result is mandatory and should be respected.
The Catalonia region represents one fifth of the Spanish economy.
Madrid on Friday stressed that the move does not involve taking autonomy away from Catalonia, but temporarily imposes direct rule until a government is elected that would operate within the legal framework./Periscopi/
