Puigdemont: ‘Catalonia has stopped Rajoy from becoming President’

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, said on Thursday that the political deadlock in Spain will continue as long as there is no proper answer to the Catalan political demands. ‘Catalonia has stopped Rajoy from becoming President’, he stressed, in comments after the leader of the People’s Party lost his confidence vote in the Spanish Parliament. Puigdemont stated that 36 out of the 47 Catalan MPs, all except those from PP and Ciutadans, voted against Rajoy and will do so again on Friday, when a second ballot is expected. ‘Anyone aspiring to become Spanish president should recognise the reality in Catalonia’, he said, describing the current situation as a ‘catch 22’ and stressing that without a solution in Catalonia there won’t be a stable government in Spain.

‘Catalonia said ‘no’, and this will not change as long as they keep ignoring the will of the Catalan people, our will to decide our future’, said the Catalan President. ‘A political problem requires a political solution, and Catalonia can be a solution to find the so much needed Spanish stability’, he said.

According to Puigdemont, there is a big ‘alternative’ to the PP and C’s government proposal, and that is a government from the left willing to recognise the Catalan right of self-determination. ‘There is room to find a solution to the demands of the Catalan people’ and to the political standstill in Spain, he suggested.

Catalan pro-independence parties ERC and PDC have both said that they would be willing to vote ‘yes’ to a new Spanish government if it recognises the right of Catalonia to hold a referendum. However, while Podemos had a referendum in its manifesto, the PSOE is totally against it.