Catalan president criticises King's speech and defends illegal ballot
Catalan president criticises King's speech and defends illegal ballot
The president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, has voiced his criticism of King Felipe's speech condemning Sunday's independence vote, and reiterated his intention to continue along his chosen path of unilaterally declaring independence for Catalonia.
On Tuesday evening the King appeared on Spanish national television, supporting Rajoy's government's handling of the situation and accusing the Catalan regional government of undermining the country's Constitution and Statute and of behaving in an "irresponsible", "unacceptable" and "disloyal" manner.
In a televised message aired on Wednesday evening, standing alongside the Catalan flag, Puigdemont addressed the King directly, accusing him of mirroring the words and policies of Mariano Rajoy's government, which he described as "catastrophic for Catalonia", and added: "With yesterday's decision you disappointed many people who had previously thought highly of you".
Puigdemont accused the King of having only addressed "one part of the population" and "deliberately ignored the millions of Catalans who don't think like them" and the Catalans who "have been victims of police violence that has shocked half the world".
He went on to call for mediation "so that this conflict can be solved by politicians and not by the police". He gave assurances that over the past few hours he had received "many proposals" and that he was prepared to enter a process of dialogue.
"We have never received a positive response from the State", he said, insisting that his government had "always left the door open to dialogue and mutual respect".
Puigdemont guaranteed viewers that Catalonia would continue to show its best face over the coming days "when the institutions of Catalonia will have to apply the results of the referendum".
He also called on the people of Catalonia to avoid "any kind of provocation" and "any kind of violence". "Let's make ourselves strong tby being dignified," he entreated, "and we will be a nation capable of realising our dream".
According to Puigdemont yesterday's region-wide strikes in protest at the police violence on October 1st showed that the Catalan people were "united, as one nation", united in the "defence of democratic values", with "civility and peace", and he highlighted the "symbolic" images of protestors "with Spanish flags and Independista flags peacefully supporting the same cause".
"No matter how much violence some people want to employ, something which is not acceptable anywhere and which has been denounced by many people and widely criticised throughout Europe, we have to behave like one nation" he continued, adding that the Catalan people had attracted the "admiration" of the whole world for its "civilised and committed" behaviour.
Nearly 900 people were hurt as police violently tried to enforce a Spanish court order suspending Sunday's vote, which the government had declared illegal.
Some police officers were seen firing rubber bullets, storming into polling stations and pulling women by their hair. Thirty-three police officers were also injured, local medical officials said.
Shocked by what they had seen, hundreds of thousands of Catalans joined street protests on Tuesday. A general strike was also called in protest at "the grave violation of rights and freedoms" seen during the ballot.
