{"id":49276,"date":"2017-10-27T12:08:15","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T12:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=49276"},"modified":"2017-10-27T12:08:15","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T12:08:15","slug":"spanish-leader-asks-senate-for-power-to-take-over-catalonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/spanish-leader-asks-senate-for-power-to-take-over-catalonia.html","title":{"rendered":"Spanish leader asks Senate for power to take over Catalonia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spanish leader asks Senate for power to take over Catalonia<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

In an extraordinary showdown over the future of the country, the Spanish and Catalan parliaments staged dueling sessions Friday \u2014 as the central government pressed for permission to take over control of the breakaway region, and the secessionists in Catalonia threatened to declare independence.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Madrid, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy urged the Senate to grant the central government unprecedented powers to establish control over Catalonia, which earlier this month defied Spanish authorities and held a referendum that backed the push for statehood.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the Senate invokes the never-before-used Article 155 of Spain\u2019s 1978 constitution, the central government could move swiftly to remove the Catalan president, suspend his ministers and assume authority over the region\u2019s public media, police and finances.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rajoy told the Senate that his government had repeatedly tried to rein in the secessionists in Catalonia. He scoffed at Catalan President Carles Puigdemont\u2019s repeated offers of \u201cdialogue\u201d to end the impasse.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe word dialogue is a lovely word. It creates good feelings,\u201d Rajoy said. \u201cBut dialogue has two enemies: those who abuse, ignore and forget the laws, and those who only want to listen to themselves, who do not want to understand the other party.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rajoy urged the Senate to approve Article 155 \u201cto prevent Catalonia from being abused.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCatalans must be protected from an intolerant minority that is awarding itself ownership of Catalonia, and is trying to subject all Catalans to the yoke of its own doctrine,\u201d the prime minister said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Barcelona, meanwhile, separatist lawmakers filed a motion to vote later Friday on whether to forge ahead and establish an independent republic despite clear rifts within the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the Catalan parliament began its session, shouts of \u201cindependence!\u201d and \u201cdemocracy!\u201d rose from an antechamber where hundreds of onlookers, including dozens of regional mayors, had gathered.<\/span><\/p>\n

The eruption was answered by disdain from anti-secessionists in the chamber. A member of the Catalan Socialist Party, Daniel Fern\u00e1ndez, asked: \u201cWhat is this? The storming of the Bastille?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end, it\u2019s always the politicians who decide,\u201d she said, flashing disappointment and anger. \u201cWe\u2019re in the same situation as before.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Puigdemont denounced what he described as heavy-handed tactics by the central government in Madrid.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have considered the possibility of calling elections,\u201d Puigdemont said. But he ruled it out because \u201cthere are not enough guarantees\u201d from the central government not to seize control of the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

Puigdemont reportedly sought a promise from Rajoy that the Spanish senate would not vote on Article 155 \u2014 a \u201cnuclear option\u201d that has never been tried.<\/span><\/p>\n

Soraya S\u00e1enz de Santamar\u00eda, the deputy prime minister in the central government, told the senate on Thursday that \u201csecessionism\u2019s trip to nowhere must reach its point of return, a return to lawfulness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She pressed for the implementation of Article 155, calling the pro-independence leaders \u201cbeyond the law.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBy refusing to comply with the law, they have sown mistrust,\u201d she said. \u201cThe damage to social harmony is overwhelming; the damage to trust is very deep. They have taken institutional problems down into the streets of Catalonia and into the homes of Catalans.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In\u00e9s Arrimadas, a leader of the Citizens party, which serves in the opposition in Barcelona, displayed a frustration felt by many.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot even Kafka\u2019s trial was as Kafkaesque as this process,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s enough, Mr. Puigdemont. How much longer are we Catalans going to have to deal with this?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Addressing Puigdemont, she said: \u201cYou use the name of the Catalans. But we Catalans are divided. And you are hurting Catalonia.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

More than 2 million people cast ballots earlier this month for independence, though the turnout for the referendum was around 40 percent of eligible voters.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the vote, Spanish national police and Guardia Civil paramilitary officers used harsh tactics, in some cases beating voters with rubber batons and dragging people away from the ballot boxes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/a-day-of-fireworks-in-catalonia-both-spanish-and-catalan-parliaments-are-scheduled-to-convene\/2017\/10\/27\/09685d34-ba90-11e7-9b93-b97043e57a22_story.html?utm_term=.b14d821a381a<\/span><\/p>\n

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