Sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont can take part in the new elections that the Spanish government has ordered after stripping Catalonia of its autonomy on Friday.
Spanish government spokesperson Inigo Mendez de Vigo said the government would welcome Puigdemont’s participation in the regional elections on December 21, Reuters reported. “I‘m quite sure if Puigdemont takes part in these elections, he can exercise this democratic opposition,” Mendez de Vigo told Reuters TV.
On Friday, the Spanish government stripped Catalonia of its autonomy and took charge of its government hours after the regional parliament declared independence from Madrid. Soon after, Puigdemont vowed to keep “working to build a free country”. He made the announcement during a TV broadcast from an undisclosed site. Until the polls, Catalonia will be run by Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria.
Mendez de Vigo’s statement came after Puigdemont called the central government’s actions “premeditated aggression”. He said Madrid’s actions were against the “expressed will of the citizens of our country, who know perfectly well that in a democracy it is parliaments that choose, or remove, presidents”, according to a BBC report.
Protest rallies across Barcelona
On Saturday, several pro-independence as well as pro-unity demonstrations were held. Thousands attended a rally in Madrid, waving the Spanish flags and asking for national unity, BBC reported.
On Sunday, protesters who support staying in Spain will hold a long-planned march, The Guardian reported. “A lot of people will want to show they don’t agree with that kind of unilateral, illegal declaration,” Alex Ramos, the vice president of pro-unity group Sociedad Civil Catalana, told The Guardian.
Meanwhile, activists said they will form human chains around buildings to protect Catalan officials facing arrest for their role in the referendum and declaration of independence. Around two lakh civil servants said they would not accept orders from Madrid, according to the report.
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