Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Madrid sacked the Catalan parliament on Friday evening and announced elections in the region for December 21.
“The regional leader had the opportunity to do this and did not,” Rajoy told a press conference in Madrid, adding that the head of the Catalan police was sacked and the regional cabinet suspended.
“We will return law to the governance of Catalonia after arbitrary and lawless decisions in recent weeks,” he added. “For them it was the worse it is, the better.”
The Spanish Senate voted on Friday afternoon to invoke Article 155.
The move was approved in a 214-47 vote, with two abstentions.
The measure paved the way for Madrid to dissolve Catalonia’s parliament, depose Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and take control of its police force.
“They have destroyed a tradition of partnership and openness. and it is anguishing. This is how most non-independence supporters in Catalonia feel.”
This marks the first time since the fall of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 that the central government would directly control the affairs of one of Spain’s 17 semi-autonomous regions. How Madrid uses the extraordinary powers it given itself will be watched by Spain’s other autonomous regions, especially the Basques and Galicians.
Rajoy has promised that the move is simply to restore order after Catalonia held an unauthorized independence referendum on October 1.
A spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office told the French news agency AFP that “public prosecutors will file a complaint for rebellion against Carles Puigdemont next week,” adding similar lawsuits could be filed against other members of the Catalan government and parliament.
Under Spanish law, the crime of “rebellion” is punishable by up to 30 years in jail.
Madrid could also seize control of Catalonia’s civil service, police and finances, which would remain in place until a new parliament is elected. Senators voted not to interfere with Catalonia’s public radio and television.
The main secessionist group – the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) – later called on civil servants not to follow orders from the central government.
Pro-independence Catalonians had promised to launch a campaign of civil disobedience if the government implements Article 155.
Spanish flags were taken down in several towns of Catalonia. – DW.
