Catalan dispute: Puigdemont sole nomination for leader
MADRID: Catalonia’s parliament nominated former leader Carles Puigdemont, sacked by Spain for unilaterally declaring independence, as the sole candidate to rule the region again in a sign of defiance to Madrid and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s Government.
Puigdemont and his supporters said he could rule from selfimposed exile in Belgium, where he fled in October to avoid arrest for his part in organising a banned referendum on a split from Spain and the consequent declaration of independence.
Madrid has rejected this possibility and said it would challenge in the courts any attempt by him to rule remotely.
Puigdemont said yesterday the independence movement would not bow to Spanish authority, in comments during a debate held in the University of Copenhagen.
‘‘We will not surrender to authoritarianism,’’ he said at the event, which marked his first trip away from Belgium in three months.
He became the top candidate to lead the wealthy northeastern region again after elections in Catalonia last month gave secessionists a slim majority.
The 55yearold former journalist possibly faces decades of jail in Spain if he is convicted of charges levelled against him, including rebellion and sedition, for organising the referendum and declaring Catalonia’s independence.
Rajoy and his ministers have said they would appeal to the courts and maintain Madrid’s direct rule of Catalonia if Puigdemont was elected while abroad. — Reuters