Sacked Catalonia leader can contest Dec 21 polls
MADRID/BARCELONA: The Spanish government said on Saturday it would welcome the participation of sacked Catalan president Carles Puigdemont in regional elections to be held in December.
Government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo said that if Puigdemont wanted to continue in politics, “which is his right, I think he should prepare for the next elections”.
Puigdemont had earlier called for a democratic opposition to Madrid’s takeover of the region following its declaration of independence. “I’m quite sure that if Puigdemont takes part in these elections, he can exercise this democratic opposition,” Mendez said.
After dissolving the regional parliament and sacking the regional government on Friday, Spain’s Prime Minister Rajoy said a new regional election would be held in Catalonia on December 21.
Mendez also said he was confident that the regional Catalan police would obey the law after the government had sacked regional officers. He said that if Puigdemont refused to abandon his office, the government would react with “intelligence and with common sense”.
Asked what would happen if Puigdemont had to face prosecution in the courts, Mendez replied that in Spain judicial and political powers were separate and that “no one is above the law.”
UNITY MARCH IN THE HEART OF CATALONIA
Defenders of Spanish unity massed in the streets of Barcelona on Sunday, waving national and European flags and chanting “Viva Espana” two days after regional lawmakers voted to sever the region from Spain.
Protesters flocked in their tens of thousands through Barcelona’s streets, in a sea of red-andyellow Spanish flags, brandishing placards reading “De Todos” (It belongs to all of us).
The stand-off has plunged Spain into its worst political crisis in decades, and raised alarm in Europe.
“We are all Catalonia,” proclaimed a massive banner as the crowd chanted “Prison for Puigdemont”, and “Long live Spain”.
An opinion poll published in centre-right newspaper El Mundo said separatist parties would lose their majority in Catalonia’s regional parliament if elections were held immediately.