Catalan government not ready for republic says ERC

The ERC republican party has admitted that the Catalan government and the country were perhaps not ready to implement independence and develop a republic. The admittal from ERC spokesman Sergi Sabrià came on Monday, following statements over the weekend by dismissed education minister, Clara Ponsatí, in which she claimed the Catalan government was not “sufficiently prepared” to implement the results of the October 1 referendum.

Yet, the ERC spokesman added that the reason why the government was not ready to fully implement independence was due to the political context brought about by the Spanish authorities. “We were not ready to face an authoritarian State with no limits when it came to using violence. Perhaps we were not prepared enough, but even if we had been, we would never have overcome this situation, putting the public in danger,” said Sabrià.

According to Sabrià, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and the executive took the decision to react as it did following the referendum “given the clear proof that there could be violence.” There were widespread incidents of violence by Spanish police attempting to stop the voting on October 1. “It was decided not to pass this red line,” said Sabriá, who added: “Under different conditions we would have been prepared.”