Spain government meets on separatists

MADRID - The Spanish government will meet on Wednesday due to the extraordinary situation created on Tuesday after Carles Puigdemont, president of the regional government of Catalonia, said that the effects of the declaration of independence would be suspended to open a period of dialogue.

Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said on Tuesday there would be an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation.

Saenz de Santamaria said that Puigdemont has made Catalonia unstable and that his speech showed he does not know where he is going.

The Catalan leader "doesn't know where he is, where he is going and with whom he wants to go," she said.

According to Saenz de Santamaria, the regional government of Catalonia, Generalitat, cannot confirm the results of the referendum because it is illegal.

Neither Puigdemont nor others can draw conclusions from a law that does not exist, a referendum that did not take place, she said.

She added that the laws passed by the Catalan parliament were illegal too.

Puigdemont appeared at the Catalan parliament on Tuesday and proposed to suspend the effects of the "declaration of independence" a few weeks in order to open a process of dialogue.

"We have to listen to the voices that have asked us to give a chance for dialogue with the Spanish state," Puigdemont said.

The central government in Madrid responded that it did not accept the "declaration of independence" by the separatists.

One of the government's options at the Wednesday meeting could be to set about applying Article 155 of the Constitution, which allows the central government to take some or total control of any of its 17 regions that don't comply with their legal obligations.

This would begin with a cabinet meeting and a warning to the regional government to fall into line. Then, the Senate could be called to approve the measure.

Following his speech, Puigdemont was the first to sign what they called a declaration of independence from Spain. Dozens of other separatist lawmakers signed it after him.

In his remarks, Puigdemont was critical of the Spanish government's response to the referendum and the violent police reaction that left hundreds injured on voting day.

But he said Catalans have nothing against Spain or Spaniards, and that they want to understand each other better.

Polls indicate that Catalonia's 7.5 million residents are evenly divided over secession. A majority support holding a referendum on independence authorized by central authorities.

Xinhua-Associated Press