MADRID (Sputnik) — The Catalan authorities are not discussing the possibility of holding an election in the autonomous region, a step demanded by Madrid, Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull said Sunday.
He noted that the Catalan authorities would take retaliatory measures following the central government's decision to trigger Article 155.
The spokesman has not elaborated on other steps taken by the Catalan government and has not answered whether independence would be declared at the Catalan Parliament's meeting. He only noted that the roadmap of the Catalan authorities focused on "protection of the Catalan institutions and fulfillment of the October 1 [independence referendum] mandate."
"The Spanish government has positioned itself beyond the law in order to perform a coup d´état against democratically elected institutions," the spokesman said.
The statement of the Catalan official comes after the Spanish authorities decided on Saturday to invoke Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, partially suspending Catalonia's autonomy. In particular, Madrid decided to dissolve the Catalan government and hold a snap election to the regional parliament.
In his turn, Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont announced on October 10 that the results of the vote enabled the declaration of independence. However, the Catalan leader called on the regional parliament to suspend the proclamation in order to pave the way for dialogue with Madrid.
