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posted by Fnord666 on Friday October 20 2017, @02:30PM   Printer-friendly
from the I-said-no dept.

After Catalonia's leader missed a deadline to clarify the government's stance on an independence referendum, and missed another deadline (Thursday calling for an unambiguous renouncement of the independence referendum, the Spanish government plans to strip Catalonia of its autonomous status:

Spain was preparing to impose direct rule over semi-autonomous Catalonia after the region's leader Carles Puigdemont declined to categorically renounce an independence referendum, the prime minister's office announced Thursday.

Spain's government said it would hold a special Cabinet meeting and "approve the measures that will be sent to the Senate to protect the general interest of all Spaniards."

At the Cabinet meeting, the government would invoke Article 155 of Spain's constitution allowing it to strip Catalonia of its self-governance. That would take effect on Saturday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's office said in a statement.

Madrid had given Puigdemont a 10 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) deadline to clarify his government's stance on a non-binding declaration of independence passed by the regional legislature following a successful referendum on secession. But the Catalan leader insisted on keeping his options open, but that wasn't good enough for Spain's government, which had insisted on an unambiguous "no."

Bloomberg reports "Merkel and Macron Have Spain's Back as Catalan Crisis Escalates":

European Union leaders offered their support for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as he prepares to suspend the powers of the Catalan administration to clamp down on its push for independence. EU chiefs arriving for a summit in Brussels on Thursday said they backed Madrid and stressed that the issue of Catalonia's independence was a domestic one for Spain.

"We're looking at this very closely and support the position of the Spanish government, which is also a position that's been adopted across parties," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "Of course this preoccupies us, and we hope that there can be a resolution on the basis of the Spanish constitution." Asked whether he supported the Spanish government, French President Emmanuel Macron said "always," adding that "this summit will be marked by a message of unity of its members in regards to Spain."

Also at BBC, The Guardian, and EUObserver (opinion).

Previously: Spain Trying to Stop Catalonia Independence Referendum
Police and Voters Clash During Catalan Independence Referendum


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  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday October 23 2017, @04:25PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 23 2017, @04:25PM (#586394) Journal

    What if there is a dystopia, and the madmen have enough power that nobody can overthrow them?

    Even in the peaceful Democratic Republic of North Korea, where everyone just loves their Dear Leader, and believes the government information1 about the outside, nobody has actually managed to overthrow that madman. Because their blissful existence is all unicorns and rainbows.

    So maybe you are naive to be so optimistic to believe that such a madman on a global level could be overthrown. The cycle of purges may end. Or it may not, it may just be cycles of purges within the same dystopian existence by the dystopian madman suppressing potential revolts. There may not be a rebel alliance. There may not be interstellar travel. We may just end up confined to this planet in a dystopian nightmare2.

    1aka, lies

    2lest you think my outlook is totally depressing, it is not. I subscribe to the outcome in the book of The Revelation in the bible. I want to be on the winning side. Spoiler alert: we win

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    Starting Score:    1  point
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    Total Score:   2