Showdown in Catalonia’s push for independence

The standoff between Spain and Catalonia over the wealthy region’s bid to secede was going down to the wire overnight, as the Spanish Government prepared to strip away Catalan regional powers after its separatist leader scrapped hopes of early elections that might have ended the country’s worst political crisis in decades.

After weeks of mounting antagoni sm, Catalan officials had initially indicated regional President Carles Puigdemont was preparing to announce a snap election for December — a vote that had been the Spanish Government’s idea as a way of ending the deadlock.

But as news of Puigdemont’s plan spread, angry student demonstrators waving separatist flags and calling him a traitor marched to the gates of the Government palace in Barcelona. Even some of Puigdemont’s political allies called him a coward for not unilaterally declaring independence in the face of Spain’s resistance.

Then, in a hastily called address, Puigdemont said he had decided not to call a vote because the Spanish Government did not provide enough assurance that it would suspend what he termed its “abusive” measures to assume control of Catalonia.

“There is no guarantee that would justify the holding of elections,” he said.

The crunch was set to come overnight when the Spanish Senate in Madrid was expected to give the goahead to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s plan to use Article 155 of the country’s constitution to remove or limit self- rule in Catalonia.

It would be an unprecedented intervention by the central Government in the affairs of one of the country’s 17 autonomous regions and would likely fan the flames of Catalan revolt.

“The application of Article 155 represents an aggression . . . without precedent,” Lluis Corominas, spokesman for Puigdemont’s Democratic Party of Catalonia, told Catalan lawmakers. “Tomorrow what we will propose is that our answer to Article 155 is going forward with the mandate of the people of Catalonia.” He was referring to the sentiment among the Catalan pro- independence coalition that it has a mandate to secede unilaterally since declaring a landslide victory in a banned independence referendum earlier this month.

Separatist lawmakers were set to negotiate how to make their declaration of independence during a meeting of the regional Parliament, an official with the ruling coalition who asked not to be named told the Associated Press. The ruling coalition has a reputation, however, for squabbling over how to proceed on the contentious issue.

At the same time, not all Catalans are keen on breaking away from Spain, with polls showing they are roughly evenly split. While those who voted in the October 1 independence referendum were overwhelmingly in favour, less than half of eligible voters went to the polls in a vote that had been outlawed by Spain’s Constitutional Court and was marred by police violence trying to stop it.