Following the Spanish government’s threats to invoke Article 155 of the Constitution, which would suspend Catalonia’s autonomy and impose direct rule from Madrid, President Puigdemont urged Mariano Rajoy to find ways to resolve the political conflict through “dialogue, negotiation and accord”.

 

In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, President Puigdemont presented a “sincere” offer of dialogue, “not as an expression of weakness, but rather as an honest proposal to find a solution to the relationship between the Spanish state and Catalonia which has been in a state of deadlock for many years”.

 

The President maintained that on the day of the Catalan referendum, in the middle of violent police action “denounced by the most prestigious international organisms”, more than two million Catalans entrusted Parliament to declare independence. Furthermore, with pro-independence parties winning a clear majority of the seats in the legislative chamber and 80% of the population repeatedly expressing their intention to decide their future by way of referendum, Carles Puigdemont asserted that accepting the results and the political reality “is the way to resolve problems”.

 

“The priority of my government is always to seek solutions by way of dialogue”, he affirmed, and added that the suspension of “the political mandate” resulting from the October 1 referendum demonstrates “our firm intention to find the solution”.

 

In this regard, the President explained that over the next two months, the Government’s main objective is to appeal to dialogue and bring together all international, Spanish and Catalan figures and institutions who have expressed their disposition to take part in the negotiation.

 

The President of the Catalan Government concluded the letter by setting only two conditions. The first is to reverse the active repression against the people and Government of Catalonia in the form of arrests and violations of fundamental rights, such as financial intervention, the freezing of back accounts, internet and media censorship, interference in private post and the brutal police violence against peaceful demonstrators. Secondly, Puigdemont requested a meeting to take place with the Prime Minister at the earliest possible occasion in order to explore an initial agreement.