October 21st, 2017 - Fort Russ News -
- Agencies - - by Samer Hussein -
Spanish government has dissolved Catalonia’s parliament, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said at a press conference on Saturday.
Rajoy said Madrid wants to strip the Catalan parliament off its powers due to being unable to deal with the ongoing political crisis and acting against the law.
He noted that the government will soon call a snap election to restore order in the region, pointing out that Madrid is not revoking Catalonia’s autonomy but only removing its local leaders whose actions were violating the Spanish constitution.
In addition, the government is not seeking to rule Catalonia directly at this point, it just took this unprecedented step to ensure that public services and the economy remain functional.
According to Rajoy, the snap election will take place in six months.
The measures taken by the central government in Madrid are expected to be approved by the Spanish Senate on October 27th.
Previously, Rajoy asked the Senate to authorize him to dissolve the Catalan government.
“Central government ministers will assume the powers of Catalonia’s officials”, Rajoy said.
His cabinet has invoked Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution which allows the central government in Madrid to intervene and impose direct rule in cases when one of Spain's seventeen autonomous communities violates the law.
The leader of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, is expected take part in a protest later on Saturday and address the Spanish government's decision in a speech.
Earlier, Puigdemont had threatened to call a vote in the regional parliament for an open declaration of independence from Spain should there be no consensus with Madrid.
Meanwhile, Pablo Echenique, MEP of the far-left PODEMOS opposition party, called for the ousting of Rajoy and his conservative government.
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