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Madrid to maintain direct rule if self-exiled Catalan separatist reelected: PM

 

Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont attends a meeting with his party 'Junts per Catalunya' parliament group in Brussels, Belgium January 12, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

 

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain rejected as absurd suggestions that Catalan separatist Carles Puigdemont could lead the region from exile if elected president by the new Catalan parliament, and said if he were chosen Madrid would maintain direct central rule.

 

Puigdemont fled to Brussels in October after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy fired him as Catalonia's leader for declaring an independent republic following an illegal referendum. He faces arrest and possibly decades in jail if he returns to Spain.

 

With only days before Catalonia's parliament convenes to elect a new regional government, separatists said Puigdemont was their candidate to lead the region again.

 

They are exploring the possibility he could do so by video link from Brussels.

 

But Rajoy, in a speech at his centre-right People's Party (PP) Madrid headquarters, derided the idea and the Catalan parliament's own legal advisory body said it was not possible without changing the law.

 

"It's absurd that someone aspires to be president of the Catalan regional government as a fugitive in Brussels - it's a case of common sense," Rajoy said.

 

If Puigdemont tried to attend the parliamentary vote for a new head of region from Brussels, the Spanish government would challenge his appearance immediately in the courts, he said.

 

Rajoy said if Puigdemont were re-elected, constitutional powers invoked by the government in October to impose direct rule on the region would continue to apply.

 

Rajoy called regional elections in December to try and resolve the political crisis that led to an exodus of companies from the region.

 

However, the election returned a slim majority to parties favouring independence, raising the possibility of a renewed push for a split from Spain this year.

 

The parliament will meet for the first time on Jan. 17 to choose the committee that rules its day-to-day activities. A new leader could be voted in by parliament as early as Jan. 31.

 

Its advisory body said in a non-binding report on Monday that parliament's rules allowed a president to be appointed without them being present only in the event of "hospitalization, serious illness or an extended disability".

 

Any other reason would require a legal reform to parliament's laws, it said.

 

(Reporting by Sonya Dowsett; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Ralph Boulton)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-01-16

[Morch]

Tabarnia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabarnia

[Baerboxer]

 

He committed a criminal act in defiance of the courts and must face those courts.

 

Brussels and the EU must stop this chicanery. But anything that weakens the sovereign authority of a member state is good in their eyes.

 

As for the wannabee Catalan El Presisente - naive if he believes Brussels to be his friend for anything but their own agenda.

[RuamRudy]

43 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

He committed a criminal act in defiance of the courts and must face those courts.

 

Brussels and the EU must stop this chicanery. But anything that weakens the sovereign authority of a member state is good in their eyes.

 

As for the wannabee Catalan El Presisente - naive if he believes Brussels to be his friend for anything but their own agenda.

I don;t see any evidence of the EU supporting the Catalans in any way whatsoever - in fact, they have been accused of abandoning them.

 

Interestingly, there are reports of people being arrested for sharing videos of the police violence that occurred during the ill-fated referendum, but no arrests have been made of the police who carried out the violence.

[Kiwiken]

Should the People of Catalan reelect him then that is their Democratic choice. Should then the Spanish Government decide on direct rule of Catalan that is Dictatorship. For those who call Carles Puigdemont  a criminal. Nelson Mandela was a criminal to some and a Beacon to many others.

The referendum held on Independence from Spain may have been outside the Spanish Law. But so was the decision by the US Congress to secede from the United Kingdom.

Laws are guides on statute books but no law should be used to suppress a majority view.

Had the original referendum been unfettered by police interference and allowed to be free and fair the results may have been clearer.

If the vote had overwhelmingly been yes then Catalonia should have petitioned Madrid for independence.

Both sides chose confrontation over dialogue sadly freedom of speech was the price