Catalonia crisis: Spain dissolves Catalan parliament, calls December 21 elections after region declares independence
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Madrid sacked the Catalan parliament on Friday evening and announced elections in the region for December 21.
"The regional leader had the opportunity to do this and did not," Rajoy told a press conference in Madrid, adding that the head of the Catalan police was sacked and the regional cabinet suspended.
"We Spaniards are living through a sad day in which a lack of reason prevailed upon the law and demolished democracy in Catalonia," he said.
The Spanish Senate voted on Friday afternoon to invoke Article 155. The move was approved in a 214 - 47 vote, with two abstentions.
The measure paved the way for Madrid to dissolve Catalonia's parliament, depose Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and take control of its police force.
"We never wanted to come to this point," the prime minister said, adding that the goal is to "return Catalonia to normality and legality" following an unauthorized independence referendum on October 1.
Several thousand independence supporters gathered outside the regional parliament. The vote to secede was met with jubilation
This marks the first time since the fall of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 that the central government would directly control the affairs of one of Spain's 17 semi-autonomous regions. How Madrid uses the extraordinary powers it has given itself will be watched by Spain's other autonomous regions, especially the Basques and Galicians.
Puigdemont's fate on the line
A spokesman for the public prosecutor's office told the French news agency AFP that "public prosecutors will file a complaint for rebellion against Carles Puigdemont next week," adding similar lawsuits could be filed against other members of the Catalan government and parliament.
Comments