Catalonia’s president has stopped short of declaring his region’s independence from Spain, stating this evening that, "We propose to suspend the effect of the independence declaration."
Carles Puigdemont, (pictured below), has left the door wide open for negotiations with Madrid. Dialogue is becoming more likely, however distasteful talks may for the increasingly pressured Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, whose hard-line response has resulted in pictures and video clips, careering around social and mainstream media, of Guardia Civil and National Police personnel attacking members of the Spanish public.
"In order to work towards putting into practice the result of the referendum... we are making a gesture of responsibility in favour of dialogue," stated Puigdemont, knowing that Rajoy, until now, has rejected negotiations, insisting that before any talks, independence plans must be scrapped. As any talks would be about independence, this has the same effect as a 'no.'
The illegally held Catalonian referendum on October 1st resulted in voters being assaulted, around 900 were injured, and served to increase tensions between Catalonia and Madrid.
Puigdemont still maintains the legality of the October 1 referendum, stating that Catalans had “won their right to become an independent country.”
Had Puigdemont declared independence on Tuesday evening, October 10th, as he had planned, Rajoy could have invoked article 155 of the constitution which permits the government to take administrative control of a region and sending in the Military Police and the Army.
At last, there has been some word from the EC which until now has sat on its hands while chanting that "that this is Spain’s problem" and that the EC lacks a mandate to intervene in this political crisis.
European Council president, Donald Tusk, asked Puigdemont to hold off and called for Madrid to open negotiations with leaders of the disaffected region.
"Diversity should not and need not lead to conflict whose consequences would obviously be bad for the Catalans, for Spain and for the whole of Europe," read Tusk’s statement.
On Monday evening, Eurointelligence correctly predicted Puigdemont's most likely move today:
"The Catalan premier has three main options, to call new regional elections, to call for an immediate declaration of independence, or to advise what is variously described as a 'deferred,' 'soft,' or symbolic' declaration of independence.
"This latter option seems the most likely to us because it maximises ambiguity and uncertainty, which appears to be a goal of the Catalan separatists. An ambiguous declaration would be highly utilitarian because it would allow them to claim that the predictable crackdown by the Spanish government is disproportionate to the threat posed."
Puigdemont's message, “I want to send you a message of calmness and respect; of the will for political dialogue and agreement. We’re not criminals. We’re not mad. We’re not carrying out a coup … We’re normal people who want to be able to vote,” can be set against the government's acrimonious position as expressed by Xavier García Albiol, leader of Mariano Rajoy’s Popular Party in the Catalan chamber,
“What do you want us to negotiate? How to blow up national sovereignty?”
