​Mariano Rajoy asks Carles Puigdemont "to put general interests of all citizens first"

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

In response to a question from the MP for the Mixed Group, Jordi Xuclà, of PdCat, on the political situation in Catalonia, the President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, recalled that the Regional Parliament of Catalonia has been closed for a month and 12 days, and hence the opposition cannot ask Regional President Puigdemont anything, despite "all that is taking place there".

Pool Moncloa / Diego CrespoThe President of the Government also reiterated to Carles Puigdemont that he should explain "to all the people of Spain, and particularly to those of Catalonia, whether or not he has declared independence". In the event that he has, "we would ask him to rectify that", as is set out in the Constitution.

At any event, Mariano Rajoy demanded "an effort to convince Mr Puigdemont not to create any more problems", and hence the government will not be forced to take certain decisions "that it would undoubtedly be better" not to have to take.

Furthermore, Mariano Rajoy addressed Mr Puigdemont to ask him to "act sensibly" and "in a balanced" fashion and "to place the general interests of all citizens, of all the people of Spain and of all the people of Catalonia, ahead of anything else".

Moderation, prudence and common sense

On another note, President of the Government Rajoy defended the position of the Government of Spain because it "has acted with moderation and prudently" so far, and also "with common sense".

"They should realise what they have done", he added. Among other things, "they have wiped out the Spanish Constitution and the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia", "they have approved laws that have all been declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court" and "they have not allowed the opposition to speak".

Parliamentary activity

The Parliamentary Spokesperson for the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Workers' Party], Margarita Robles, asked the President of the Government about the dynamization of parliamentary activity. In his response, the President of the Government recalled that the government's function is not that, but "to govern" and "be subject to the control of this chamber", something that is happening.

In this regard, Mariano Rajoy underlined that, in the current term of office, the government has responded to 1,128 verbal questions and 36,000 written requests. He has appeared on 197 occasions, and responded to 130 claims filed. The President of the Government has himself answered 80 verbal questions in the Lower House of Parliament and 21 in the Upper House of Parliament, and has appeared on a regular basis.

Pool Moncloa / Diego Crespo

As regards the vetoes used by the government, Mariano Rajoy explained that "we don't veto things for the sake of it" but rather because this is "a governmental prerogative contained in the Constitution in order to control the Budget". He added that "if all the laudable opposition initiatives had been approved" in this term of office to date, the public deficit would have increased by 3 points, in other words, by 30 billion euros.

Financing of PP

The leader of Unidos Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, mentioned the trial taking place in the National High Court of the so-called "Gürtel" case. In his response, the President of the Government clarified that the PP [People's Party] is "not on trial" in this case, although "it does appear with potential civil liability for undue gains". That means that it was unaware of the criminal offence and that there was no illegal funding, added Mariano Rajoy.

At any event, President of the Government Rajoy pointed out that "I respect and will always respect what the Public Prosecutor and the justice system decide; some promote the actions of the justice system and others judge".

Non official translation