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Spain government will seek to impose direct rule over Catalonia Spain government will impose direct rule over Catalonia
(35 minutes later)
Madrid will seek senate approval to take over the Catalonian government and hold early elections, the Spanish prime minister has said. The Spanish government has suspended Catalonia’s autonomy and willintroduce direct rule from next Saturday as the country sinks further into its worst constitutional crisis since the restoration of democracy in 1977.
Mariano Rajoy was speaking on Saturday after a special cabinet meeting held in the wake of Catalonia’s efforts to unilaterally declare independence. After an emergency cabinet meeting, and citing the Catalan government’s “conscious and systematic rebellion and disobedience”, Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, said he was invoking article 155 of the constitution to “restore the rule of law, coexistence, the economic recovery and so that elections could be held in normal circumstances”.
He said the Spanish government did not want to invoke previously untested powers it held under article 155 of the constitution, but it had been forced to do so. Pending senate approval next week, the government of Carles Puigdemont will be stripped of its powers, with its functions assumed by the relevant ministries in Madrid. Early elections in Catalonia would then be held within six months, Rajoy said.
The government was not revoking Catalonia’s autonomy, Rajoy said, but the move will still be regarded as inflammatory by those in the region who want to break away from Spain. “We are not ending Catalan autonomy, but we are relieving of their duties those who have acted outside the law,” Rajoy said, without detailing which Catalan institutions would come under direct rule. It is expected that the interior ministry, and therefore the police, would be one.
The move, which takes the country into uncharted legal waters, was sparked by Catalonia’s banned independence referendum on 1 October. King Felipe VI said the crisis must be resolved “through legitimate democratic institutions. We do not want to give up that which we have built together.” Taxation and spending are also expected to be controlled by Madrid, but it is unclear whether the Spanish government will intervene in Catalan state media, whose outlets are viewed as the mouthpiece of the independence movement.
Autonomy is a highly sensitive issue in semi-autonomous Catalonia, which lost its powers under Spain’s military dictatorship. Home to 7.5 million people, the region fiercely defends its language and culture. While the government insists that article 155 did not imply suspending Catalan autonomy, many in Catalonia are likely to take a different point of view. Thousands of demonstrators are expected to take to the streets later on Saturday to protest against the imposition of direct rule.
There are fears of unrest if Madrid seeks to impose direct rule of any kind, and the Catalan leader, Carles Puigdemont, has said such a move could push regional politicians to declare unilateral independence. The deadline set by Madrid for Puigdemont to clarify whether he had, on 10 October, declared independence passed last Thursday. The Catalan president declined to answer yes or no and instead threatened to unilaterally declare independence if the government invoked article 155.
Rajoy said on Friday that Spain had reached a “critical point” after weeks of political limbo and that his government had to act to stop the rule of law being “liquidated”. Spain’s attorney general said that if Puigdemont declared independence for Catalonia, he would be charged with “rebellion” – a crime that carries a maximum 30-year sentence. It was last used against the police and military who supported the failed coup in 1981.
The prime minister is likely to announce plans to take control of Catalonia’s 16,000-strong police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, whose leader, Josep Lluis Trapero, could face up to 15 years in jail on sedition charges for failing to contain separatist protests before the referendum. As Rajoy’s People’s party has a majority in the senate there is virtually no doubt that article 155 will be passed.
Madrid could also seek to force new elections – its preferred solution to Spain’s most protracted political crisis since its return to democracy in 1977 – as early as January. Puigdemont will then cease to be Catalan president, but he has a week’s grace during which he could stave off direct rule by calling elections. A poll published this morning shows this is the popular option, with 68% of Catalans in favour.
Rajoy is due to hold a press conference on Saturday afternoon to announce his plans, which must pass through the Senate where his conservative People’s party holds a majority. That process would take about a week. However, opinion polls suggest that Puigdemont’s party has not benefitedfrom the rush to independence and would fail to get a majority. In recent days, all members of his coalition have said going to the polls was not an option.
As tensions remain high, independence supporters are expected to rally in Barcelona on Saturday night to call for the release of Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sanchez. The leaders of two powerful grassroots separatist groups have been in jail since Monday, pending investigation into sedition charges. Meanwhile, the chances of the two sides sitting down to talk look slim. One government spokesman said: “We’re not prepared to discuss the dismemberment of Spain and they don’t want to talk about anything else.”
Puigdemont has said he has a mandate to declare independence after the referendum, which his administration says resulted in a 90% yes vote. Turnout for the poll, however, was given as 43%, with many Catalans who back unity having stayed away.
Accounting for about a fifth of Spain’s economic output, Catalonia is evenly split over whether to break away from Spain, according to opinion polls. Supporters say the region does too much to prop up the rest of the national economy and would thrive if it went its own way, but opponents say Catalonia is stronger as part of Spain and that a split would spell economic and political disaster.
Nearly 1,200 companies have shifted their legal headquarters to other parts of Spain since the referendum, hoping to minimise instability.