Catalan president sets date for the declaration of independence: within a year

USPA NEWS - The president of the regional Government of Catalonia (northeastern Spain), Carles Puigdemont, has set a date for the unilateral declaration of independence. It will be mid-2017 because, according to the president, the region can not wait for the Spanish political situation is clarified.

In a breakfast briefing organized Friday by New Economy Forum, president Puigdemont warned the Government of Madrid that "patience [the Catalans] is not infinite" and considered that Spain "is not concerned" about the independence of Catalonia. However, he stressed, "we will not wait idly there eternally new majorities in Spain" and recalled that "this is the roadmap that have drawn their votes million Catalans." On September 27, 2015, when regional elections were held in Catalonia, "two million Spaniards asked unsubscribe, unsubscribe" to Spain, which means "8% of all voters who are in Spain."

The regional president of Catalonia demanded direct negotiations with the Spanish Government. This week, after the demands of the extremist coalition CUP to disobey the Spanish laws, Puigdemont insisted that will not take any decision that goes against the law. Precisely for this reason, he believes that the Spanish Government should negotiate with the date of Catalonia independence referendum and ask what the necessary quorum and the period in which not refer back to the Catalans. "Advocate", said Friday, "it is not a sign of weakness or an act of cowardice. Accord magnifies."

Catalan society, Puigdemont said, "is convinced that the Spanish state is a bad state", which is "a matter of the utmost importance" that demands "the best solution for all." He admitted that most of the Catalans "Spain does not want to ignore," but said that "does not want to be understood in this way. Be understood and it must be on equal terms." This, he explained, is necessary "not to exceed this year to recognize us and independence be recognized as a political actor that will not go away" in Catalonia.

"We must have dialogue with courage, wanting to reach agreements and the commitment to implement them," said the Catalan president. According Puigdemont, this would be the way that "best for both parties" because, once they reach "to the solution which wants Catalonia, will have to continue cooperating." However, he acknowledged the difficulty of achieving that goal because, in his view, a degree of consensus as it allowed the transition from dictatorship to democracy in 1978 would be necessary and "we are now far from that spirit", he said.