Catalonia's President Puigdemont to Speak in Front of the Parliament
In response to the Catalonian referendum, the Spanish Constitutional Court has decided to suspend the Catalan Parliament’s plenary session. However, the Catalan Parliament has announced that they will not be prevented from meeting to assess the outcome of the Catalonian referendum. In addition, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has requested to speak in front of the Parliament on Tuesday to give an update on the political situation. Catalan Foreign Minister Raül Romeva stressed that political debates have to be initiated to tackle the constitutional crisis Spain is facing.
The article below is published by Catalan News:
As the Bureau and Board of Spokespersons met again this Friday, Catalan president of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont has requested to appear in Parliament on Tuesday October 10, in order to “inform about the current political situation.”
His application came after the Spanish Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday to suspend the Catalan parliament’s plenary session to be held to “assess the results of the referendum on October 1 and its effects, in accordance with article 4 of the self-determination referendum.”
The session was set up at the request of pro-independence parties JxSi (Together for Yes) and left-wing CUP, and Puigdemont set to make an appearance, with rumours abound that he would declare independence, prompting the Spanish Constitutional Court’s subsequent suspension of the plenary session.
In response to this, another party, Catalunya si que es Pot (Yes Catalonia Can), which is pro-referendum but remains divided on independence, asked Puigdemont to appear that same Monday in parliament without making any further specifications.
The Bureau and Board of Spokespersons is meeting on Friday to discuss all these elements.
The request of Puigdemont to the president of the chamber, Carme Forcadell, has been made in accordance with article 169.1 of the regulation of the Parliament, which maintains that the president can present himself before the parliament in order to explain himself, with groups or individuals replying within a certain time limit.Catalonia’s foreign minister, Raül Romeva, said in an interview with BBC Radio 4 that the Catalan parliament will meet despite the ban by the Spanish Constitutional Court. “The parliament will meet, it will debate,” he said, criticizing the court for what he deemed a “preventative ban” in order to avoid discussion in the chamber.
"The Constitutional Court is forbidding a parliament to debate without there being anything on the agenda, they are making a preventive ban so that parliament does not speak. This does not happen anywhere," he told reporters of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ program.
Asked whether a declaration of independence would cause a constitutional crisis in Spain, Romeva replied that "the crisis already exists, it is not a crisis of the future," stating that a possible declaration of independence is an issue to be decided by parliamentary groups.
“Any attempt the Spanish government has made to prevent things from happening has proved not only useless but counterproductive," he said. "We are asking for politics and negotiations.”
