Declaration of independence back on the table - Puigdemont won't call early election

The Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, has finally decided not to call an early election. In an institutional statement from the government headquarters, Puigdemont said he has unsuccessfully tried to get "guarantees" from Madrid that a snap election would stop the suspension of Catalonia's self-government. "There are no guarantees," he said, accusing the Spanish government of behaving "irresponsibly." Puigdemont added that it is now up to the Catalan Parliament majority to decide the next steps forward.

Puigdemont said during his short statement that "no one can say" that he or his government "did not try everything or were not willing to make huge sacrifices to reach compromise". The Catalan president added that he had the "obligation to consider all options" and he was "ready to call elections if conditions were there to justify it". "Those conditions do not exist," he added, regretting that the Spanish government insisted on applying article 155 of the Constitution as a "vengeful measure" against Catalonia.

"I am the one who has the power to call snap elections and various people asked me over the past few days whether I planned to use that power or not," Puigdemont explained. "My duty and my responsibility are to exhaust all paths, absolutely all of them, to find a negotiated solution for a political conflict of democratic nature," he said, insisting that he was willing to call elections if they could have been held "with a certain normalcy."

Puigdemont said he tried "honestly and loyally" to call snap elections in order to avoid the suspension of the Catalan self-government. According to him, that application is "outside the law, abusive and unjust and aims to eradicate" the "entire tradition of Catalanism."