This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/22/deposed-catalan-president-carles-puigdemont-offers-to-meet-rajoy-but-not-in-spain

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Deposed Catalan president offers to meet Rajoy, but not in Spain Spanish PM defends handling of Catalan crisis after election blow
(about 5 hours later)
The deposed Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, on Friday offered to meet the Spanish prime minister anywhere but in Spain, the day after pro-independence parties held onto their majority in snap regional elections. Spain’s prime minister has defended his handling of the Catalan crisis after the snap election he called in an attempt to settle the secessionist challenge resulted in pro-independence parties holding on to their absolute majority in parliament.
Speaking Friday to reporters in Brussels, Puigdemont said such a meeting could not take place in Spain “for obvious reasons”, as he faces arrest on possible charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds if he returns there. Speaking the day after the three Catalan separatist parties won a total of 70 seats in the 135-seat regional parliament, Mariano Rajoy stood by his strategy of taking control of the region in response to an illegal independence referendum and subsequent declaration of independence.
He would talk to Mariano Rajoy in Brussels or any other EU country, he said, adding that the Spanish prime minister “has a magnificent opportunity to start getting behind [a] solution rather than creating more problems.” Asked whether he accepted responsibility for the disastrous poll showing of his conservative People’s party, whose presence in the Catalan parliament was reduced from 11 seats to three, Rajoy replied: “The prime minister accepts responsibility for anything that happens to the People’s party, just as all members of the People’s party across Spain do.”
The electoral result has dealt a severe blow to the Spanish government, which had called them hoping to halt the secessionist push. He shrugged off suggestions that his use of article 155 of the Spanish constitution to suspend Catalan autonomy had proved costly and counterproductive.
The three separatist parties won a total of 70 seats in the 135-seat regional parliament even though the centre-right, pro-unionist Citizens party was the single biggest winner, taking 37 seats. “I think article 155 was applied as it needed to be,” he said. “It was not applied when the Catalan government took the first of its decisions that were against the law. We were prudent. It was applied with the agreement of an enormous majority in the senate and it was applied intelligently.”
Puigdemont said that Rajoy’s strategy had failed. “All I ask is that he listens to us,” he said. “We have the right to restore that which the Spanish government changed so abruptly.” He pointed out that the centre-right Citizens party, which strongly supported his actions, won the largest share of the Catalan vote and the greatest number of seats.
Much will now depend on what the pro-independence parties agree. Fractures have appeared between Puigdemont and his former vice-president, Oriol Junqeras, who is in prison along with two prominent pro-independence leaders and has appeared to take a more moderate line on independence. “The negative thing about these results, from my point of view, is that those of us who wanted change haven’t won enough seats to bring that to a successful conclusion,” he said at a press conference in Madrid.
Puigdemont said he would seek guarantees that he could return to be invested as president and form a government with those who are in prison or with him in Brussels. He said the separatist bloc had lost two seats since the last regional election and had taken a combined 47.6% of the vote, and thus could not claim to represent all Catalans.
Thursday’s election was called by Rajoy in October after he used article 155 of the constitution to take control of Catalonia and sack its government over its unilateral referendum and subsequent declaration of independence. “Yesterday’s results also make it plain that no one can speak for Catalonia who doesn’t include all of Catalonia,” Rajoy said. “What’s clear after the vote is that Catalonia is not monolithic; Catalonia is plural and we all need to nurture that plurality as a virtue and a source or riches.”
The vote, which pitted secessionists against unionists, attracted a record turnout of more than 80%, dispelling fears that holding it on a weekday rather than the usual Sunday would hit numbers. With speculation mounting that Together for Catalonia, the party of the deposed Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, will attempt to reassemble its previous coalition with the Catalan Republican Left party (ERC) and the anti-capitalist Popular Unity Candidacy, Rajoy called for a new direction in Catalan politics.
The pro-independence parties once again failed to attract a majority in favour of independence: taking 47.7% of the vote and being two seats down on the last election. “Elections always offer the possibility of a new democratic beginning, an opportunity to embark on a new phase,” he said. “I trust that from now, Catalonia will enter a phase based on dialogue and not confrontation, in cooperation and not imposition, in plurality and not unilateralism.”
Puigdemont had been campaigning from Brussels after fleeing there. He said the Spanish government would be prepared to collaborate with any Catalan government that observed the law and worked to restore stability, security and social harmony to the region.
Together for Catalonia – the party led by Puigdemont – took 34 seats, the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), led by Junqeras, took 32, and the far-left, anti-capitalist Popular Unity Candidacy took four. “Without respect for the law, and without a responsible Catalan government that respects it, it won’t be possible to guarantee security and certainty,” he said.
The Catalan Socialist party took 17 seats, while Catalunya en Comú-Podem – the Catalan version of the anti-austerity Podemos party – took eight. Earlier on Friday, Puigdemont, who fled to Brussels at the end of October, said he was ready to meet Rajoy to find a way out of the crisis, but stipulated that the meeting could not take place in Spain, where he faces arrest on possible charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds.
Trailing behind them was the Catalan branch of Rajoy’s People’s party, which won three seats – eight fewer than in 2015. “I am willing to meet Mr Rajoy in Brussels or in any other location in the EU, so long as it is not in the Spanish state, for obvious reasons,” he said. “Catalonia wants to be an independent state, but the next step is to talk with Mariano Rajoy.”
Calling the election results a “slap in the face” for Rajoy, Puigdemont said: “We must completely change the recipe because it doesn’t work any more.”
He said Rajoy’s strategy of taking control of the region to try to head off the independence movement had failed. “All I ask is that he listens to us,” he said. “We have the right to restore that which the Spanish government changed so abruptly.”
Rajoy gave short shrift to Puigdemont’s offer, pointedly saying the leader he should meet was Inés Arrimadas, of the Catalan Citizens party, which won 37 seats and 25.4% of the vote.
“The person I need to sit down with is the person who won the election and that’s Arrimadas,” he said.
He refused to speculate on whether Puigdemont’s legal situation could complicate his return to the Catalan presidency, saying it was a matter for the courts.
Madrid’s direct rule over Catalonia is due to expire when a new Catalan government is formed. Pressed on whether article 155 could be used if the next regional administration pushed on with a unilateral quest for independence, Rajoy said he would not focus on the “worst possible situation” but added that the law had to be obeyed.
Despite the political upheaval, Barcelona was calm on Friday morning, with people finishing off their Christmas shopping or sitting glued to the TV to find out how they had fared in the annual Christmas lottery, El Gordo.
The coming weeks will see a return to the politicking as coalition talks begin, Puigdemont and his allies seek a return to power and the Spanish government looks on and weighs up its options.