Spanish PM vows to remove Catalan president and govt

Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy said Friday before the Senate that the national government would be taking Catalan president Carles Puigdemont out of power, as well as Vice President Oriol Junqueras and all the members of the government, using special powers to be granted during the day by the upper house of the parliament. He added that elections are expected to be called in Catalonia in the next six months, ”as soon as possible”, after the Spanish Senate in Madrid votes Friday on whether to implement Article 155 of the constitution, which would mean the central government could remove the regional government, install a technocratic government and call new regional elections.

Rajoy said that ”there is no alternative” to the activation of Article 155 i Catalonia, since ”we need to use the law to make the law respected”, he said before the Senate, adding that Puigdemont was the one responsible for the current situation.

”He is, and only him,” he repeated, and the activation was a decision taken when faced with an ”exceptional situation”.