Axed Catalan leader urges resistance to Madrid rule

BARCELONA — Catalonia’s secessionist leader Carles Puigdemont stood defiant Saturday against Madrid’s moves to depose him, urging “democratic opposition” to direct rule forced on the region to stop it splitting from Spain.

In a televised statement, Mr. Puigdemont accused the central government of trampling on the will of independence-seeking Catalans.

Madrid’s decision to seize Catalan powers in response — the first curtailment of regional autonomy since Francisco Franco’s brutal 1939-75 dictatorship — constituted an “aggression,” he added.

The separatist leader said “democratic opposition” was the only way forward, without specifying what form this could take.

Spain remains on a knife edge as it grapples with the worst constitutional crisis in its contemporary history, triggered by the unlawful October 1 referendum.

Throwing down the gauntlet in the escalating standoff, Catalan lawmakers on Friday passed a motion, by 70 votes out of 135 in the regional parliament, to declare a Catalan republic.

Opposition MPs refused even to vote on the issue and walked out in disgust.

The central government’s intervention was “contrary to the will expressed by the citizens of our country at the ballot box,” Mr. Puigdemont said. “In a democratic society, only parliaments can appoint or dismiss presidents.”

The central government declined to comment on his speech.

SWEEPING POWERS

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy responded to Friday’s independence declaration by axing the Catalan government and parliament and calling for elections to be held on December 21 to replace them.

Josep Lluis Trapero, the highestranking officer in Catalonia’s Mossos d’Esquadra police force, was also dismissed.

He drew sweeping powers from a never-before-used constitutional article designed to rein in rebels among Spain’s 17 regions, which enjoy varying levels of autonomy.

In an official government notice published Saturday, Mr. Rajoy’s deputy, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, was put in charge of administering the region.

But Mr. Puigdemont did not seem to be going anywhere soon, signing his speech as “President of the Generalitat ( government) of Catalonia.”

In Madrid, thousands rallied under a giant Spanish flag Saturday, in anger at Catalonia’s unilateral declaration of independence.

On Sunday a Spanish unity rally is planned in Barcelona for midday (1100 GMT), with organizers hoping for a large turnout not least from Catalans opposed to the independence move.

Also Sunday, in Girona, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the Catalan capital, another kind of faceoff will take place when Real Madrid take on Girona at 1515 GMT.

The match brings together the favorite teams of Messrs. Rajoy and Puigdemont.

Real Madrid — Spain’s most popular club — have traditionally been seen as representing a positive image of the country to the world since they won the first five European Cups between 1955- 1960 during Franco’s rule.

The city of Girona is a hotbed of pro-independence support and Mr. Puigdemont’s birthplace — and it will be Real’s first appearance in Catalonia since the violence- marred referendum on independence. — AFP