Spain eyes new poll to end Catalan independence bid

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy listens to lawmakers during a parliamentary session at the parliament in Madrid. Picture: Francisco Seco/AP

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy listens to lawmakers during a parliamentary session at the parliament in Madrid. Picture: Francisco Seco/AP

Published Oct 20, 2017

Share

Madrid - The Spanish government has

secured opposition support for dissolving Catalonia's parliament

and holding new elections there in January in its bid to check

the regional government's push for independence.

The Socialists, the main opposition, said on Friday they

would back special measures to impose central rule on the region

to thwart the secessionist-minded Catalan government and end a

crisis that has unsettled the euro and hurt confidence in the

euro zone's fourth-largest economy.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who wants opposition support

to be able to present a united front in the crisis, has called

an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday to pave the way for

Madrid establishing central control in the region.

The government would not confirm whether January elections

formed a part of the package, with Rajoy saying only that the

measures would be announced on Saturday.

However a government spokesman saw regional elections as

likely. "The logical end to this process would be new elections

established within the law," said government spokesman Inigo

Mendez de Vigo at a weekly government press conference.

It will be the first time in Spain's four decades of

democracy that Madrid has invoked the constitution to

effectively sack a regional government and call new elections.

Head of state King Felipe used a prizegiving ceremony in the

northwestern region of Asturias to indicate support for the

government and affirm the unity of Spain, of which he said

"Catalonia is and will remain an essential part."

"Spain needs to face up to an unacceptable secession attempt

on its national territory, which it will resolve through its

legitimate democratic institutions," said the monarch, a

ceremonial figure who sharply criticised Catalan leaders earlier

this month.

Rajoy wants as broad a consensus 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 one million people out onto the streets.

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, a former journalist who is

spearheading the secession campaign, has refused to renounce

independence, citing an overwhelming vote in favour of secession

at a referendum on Oct.1.

Regional authorities said around 90 percent voted for

independence though only 43 percent of voters participated.

Opponents of secession mostly stayed home.

ECONOMIC CONFIDENCE HURT

Spanish courts have ruled the referendum unconstitutional,

but Puigdemont says the result is binding and must be obeyed.

The prolonged standoff has caused hundreds of companies to

move their headquarters outside Catalonia and prompted the

Spanish government to cut its economic growth forecast. The

region accounts for a fifth of Spain's economy.

In a test of investor appetite for Spanish stocks,

housebuilder Aedas dropped over 6 percent in its

debut on the Madrid stock exchange on Friday, although it later

regained losses to trade close to its listing price.

The uncertainty surrounding the future of the region has

rattled the euro. On Thursday, European Union leaders including

Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Emmanuel Macron offered

their support for Rajoy at an EU leaders summit in Brussels.

After Rajoy announces the direct control measures on

Saturday, Spain's upper house will have to approve them in a

session which could take place on Oct. 27, a Senate spokeswoman

said.

Actions could range from dismissing the Catalan parliament

and government, to a softer approach of removing specific heads

of department. Direct rule from Madrid would be temporary while

regional elections are held to form a new government. 

Reuters

Related Topics: