Nominated ministers are ‘provocation,’ warns Spain

The Spanish government released a statement just hours after Quim Torra released the list of nominees for his proposed cabinet – with a warning. Madrid qualified the list of nominated ministers including those “fleeing justice” or in prison to be a “provocation.” Due to the nature of the officials listed, the statement also deemed the new Catalan president’s recent written offer of dialogue to Rajoy as “not sincere.”  

As Catalan institutions are under the control of Article 155 from Madrid, the Spanish government blocking Torra’s nomination from being officially published is likely to create yet another clash. Rajoy’s government in fact divulged that it plans to analyze whether to “authorize” Quim Torra’s nomination decree for his chosen government ministers, and study its “viability,” given the “personal circumstances” of some of the individuals named.

In its statement, the Spanish executive expressed that through this move “an opportunity to regain normality was lost,” viewing the nominations in line with “keeping up with a strategy of confrontation.”

“A modern government,” says Carles Puigdemont

Deposed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, meanwhile, reacted positively to the release of the nominated ministers of Torra’s cabinet-to-be. From Berlin, where he is currently awaiting a final decision on his extradition order, through his Twitter account, Puigdemont congratulated the nominated ministers announced by Catalan president Quim Torra. The leader of the Junts per Catalunya (JxCat) ticket further defined the proposed executive as a “modern government for a modern country, at the service of a modern, open, and European society.”