Spain won't overturn decree facilitating companies fleeing Catalonia after all
Minister rejects changing measure and contradicts colleague’s previous announcement made to foster “stability and trust”
meritxell batet
Referendum won't 'fix the problem,' says Spanish minister
"There cannot be an agreement over independence," insists Meritxell Batet
Catalan-Spanish summit: no to referendum, maybe to recovering social laws
Spanish government rules out independence vote in meeting marked by "great discrepancies"
Catalan-Spanish summit: what to expect
Opposition skeptical as governments are set to meet on Wednesday after 7-year break
Jailed leader Junqueras urges new Spanish government to ‘take risks’
Ousted People’s Party warns Socialists not to “interfere” in judiciary amid prison transfer debate
MP in Congress Meritxell Batet, new Spanish minister of public administrations
She will be in charge of regional affairs amid the ongoing Catalan push for independence
PSOE removes Catalan Socialist Meritxell Batet from party board for rejecting Rajoy investiture
The Catalan Socialist Meritxell Batet will no longer be part of the PSOE Board in the Spanish Parliament. The measure was announced on Thursday by the spokesman of the PSOE interim leadership, Mario Jiménez, and came after theparty held a two-hour meeting to decide the measures against the 15 MPs, including the seven members of the PSC, that broke voting discipline and rejected Rajoy’s investiture. Batet’s post as Deputy Secretary General will remain unoccupied until negotiations between the Catalan and the Spanish socialist branches “come to an end”, Jiménez said. After the announcement, Batet stated that she “accepts and respects” the decision, despite not sharing it, and that she would have preferred for the issue not to have been tackled “in this way”.
Party Review – PSC: “Pro-independence process goes nowhere”
The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) obtained 7 MPs in the last Spanish Elections, half of what they obtained in 2011. Although their partner in Spain, the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) was the second force in the 350-seat Spanish Parliament, PSC suffered a huge decline in Catalonia, mainly due to its refusal to hold a referendum on independence and also because it is regarded as a party from the ‘establishment’ in comparison to new forces such as Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’ and Alternative Left ‘Podemos’. To try to reverse this negative trend, PSC decided to change its lead candidate for the upcoming Spanish Elections, to be held on the 26th of June. Former Spanish Minister for Defence, Carme Chacón, was replaced by Meritxell Batet, who has insisted on reforming the Spanish Constitution in order to solve the political problem between Catalonia and Spain.