Rajoy rejects Catalonia’s self-determination vote once again

Madrid (ACN).- On Monday evening, the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, stated in a TV interview that he has “a plan” to prevent Catalonia’s self-determination and “guaranteed” that “the independence of any Spanish territory will not happen while [he is] in office”. Rajoy emphasised that his plan’s guidelines are, firstly, “implementing the law”. The Spanish PM said he is “ready for any scenario that might happen”, but refused “to predict how events will unfold”. Secondly, he would be “working” on increasing “the bonds that have always united the whole Catalan people and the people living in Catalonia that are not born in Catalonia with the whole Spanish people”. Thirdly, “working to solve the problems of the Spanish and Catalan economies”, as well as the funding of the Catalan Government. However, Rajoy stated he “will not call” the Catalan President, Artur Mas, despite the offers to talk, and accused him of “acting unilaterally”. In fact, Rajoy had already accused Catalan authorities of taking “unilateral decisions” when he reacted to the Catalan Parliament’s approval of a motion requesting the transfer of the powers to organise a referendum to the Catalan Executive using Article 150.2 of the Spanish Constitution. This is one of the 5 different legal ways identified by law experts to organise a self-determination vote in Catalonia. All of them were explained to the Spanish Government last summer, but Rajoy refused to comment on them and has been repeating that the vote is illegal since sovereignty “belongs to the Spanish people as a whole”.

In an interview with the privately-owned TV station Antena 3, Mariano Rajoy stated he has “a plan” to stop Catalonia’s independence. In fact this was the answer to the interview’s first question. Catalonia’s self-determination occupied the first part of the interview, which covered very briefly the corruption cases affecting the Peoples’s Party (PP) and the Spanish PM himself. “The law will be respected; no referendum will take place in which the sovereignty of the Spanish people is questioned and, of course, I guarantee that the independence of any Spanish territory will not happen while I am the President of the Spanish Government”, declared Rajoy.

Rajoy’s plan: implementing the law, strengthening bonds between Catalans and Spaniards and fostering the economy

The Spanish PM insisted he is “working on solving the problems of the Spanish and Catalan economies”, as well as the “funding of the Catalan Government”. In addition, he “will work” on strengthening “the bonds that have always united the whole Catalan people and the people living in Catalonia that are not born in Catalonia with the whole Spanish people”. Furthermore, his line of action also includes respecting the Constitution, which will be “implemented”. Rajoy “will make sure” the law is respected. “This is my plan for Catalonia”, he said.

Rajoy does not rule out the possibility of cancelling Catalonia’s autonomy

Asked about the hypothetical cancellation of Catalonia’s autonomy or returning some of the Catalan Government’s powers, such as police, to the Spanish Executive, the Spanish PM did not want to disclose any measure, since he cannot predict “how events will unfold”. Rajoy did not want to speculate on hypothetical scenarios or disclose the steps he might take if the Catalan Government and Parliament continued to take decisions leading towards self-determination. However, Rajoy highlighted that the Spanish Government “is ready for any scenario”. In fact, the Spanish PM did not rule out the possibility of cancelling Catalonia’s autonomy either. Once again, he insisted that he “will honour the law and will make the others honour it” because this is his “obligation”.

Rajoy justified not describing in detail what he would do because “it is not the most reasonable thing, having the President of the [Spanish] Government predicting the unfolding of events”. “If I was telling you what I would do it would be three or four months before I could take or rectify any decision”, he answered to questions from journalist Gloria Lomana. However, Rajoy wanted to provide “tranquillity and reassurance to all the citizens: Catalonia’s independence will not happen, neither there will be a consultation vote to question the Spanish people’s sovereignty while I am the President of the Spanish Government”, he declared.

Rajoy “will not call” the Catalan President

Regarding the offer to talk made by the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, Rajoy said he “talks with everybody”. He added that “always”, whenever Mas has asked for it, he “has seen him and answered his phone calls”. However, “what I cannot do is discuss national sovereignty”, Rajoy stressed. In addition, he said he “will not call” the Catalan President. The Spanish PM regretted that Mas “has taken unilateral decisions with the support of his party and others”, but neither Rajoy “nor anybody else can discuss national sovereignty” because this “only relates to the Spanish people as a whole”.