Rajoy asks TC to overturn Parliament’s resolution on indy referendum
He also requests Prosecutor to consider whether to press criminal charges against Speaker Forcadell
MadridLast Friday the Spanish government agreed to file an appeal before the Constitutional Court (TC) against the Catalan Parliament's resolutions on an independence referendum, approved after the general political debate last week. Spain’s executive branch requested the overturn of these resolutions during Friday’s Cabinet meeting, according to statement by acting Vice-President Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría in a press conference.
What's more, the Spanish government is asking for "specific testimony as to whether the Prosecutor should take action against Carme Forcadell" and also against the rest of the individuals involved in the approval of these resolutions, if it believes that a criminal offense has been committed. The Prosecutor's Office already has the Forcadell report, after the TC requested it, and this new challenge could add to it.
Santamaría defined the resolutions as "a repeated attempt by the Catalan Parliament", and "for that reason we have added it to the complaint". In her administration's view, the resolutions that call for a referendum next September "specifically violate the Court's ruling" that annulled the constituent process committee's conclusions.
The challenged resolutions are those agreed upon by pro-secession groups Junts pel Sí and the CUP, and not that of Catalunta Sí que es Pot, which calls for a negotiated path to a referendum. The request is targeted at the Speaker of the House and the parliament’s Executive Committee, as well as the group presidents and President Puigdemont, and urges them to refrain from complying with the parliamentary resolutions.
The Spanish government is broadening the same complaint that they lodged against the alleged non-compliance with the TC's ruling committed by Parliament when it voted on the conclusions of the constituent process.
Santamaria responds to Puigdemont
The Vice-president also referred to the offer of a negotiated referendum made by Carles Puigdemont, President of the Generalitat, while Madrid on Monday. She assured that the Spanish and Catalan governments "have spoken a lot", but only regarding "that which they have jurisdiction over". But "neither Mr. Puigdemont nor Mr. Rajoy can negotiate anything that pertains to all Spaniards, because they have no authority to do so. What Spain is and how it is organized was decided by Spaniards, and it is in the Constitution". "We demand respect for the rights of all Spanish people, which are enshrined in the Constitution", she explained.
