The Spanish
Constitutional Court last night suspended a referendum law that was
approved on Wednesday by the Catalan parliament, blocking the way for
an vote on independence from Spain. The law will be suspended while
judges consider arguments that the vote breaches the country's
constitution.
Mariano
Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, vowed earlier on Thursday to “stop
at nothing” to prevent Catalonia’s independence referendum, as
his attorney general prepared to prosecute Catalan leaders.
In a
blistering address, Mr Rajoy accused Catalonia's parliament of an
“intolerable act of disobedience” in passing its referendum law,
insisting it had violated the Spanish constitution.
“The
consultation is not going to happen in any case,” he said. “We
are defending national sovereignty, the principle of legality and the
institutions. We are defending the rights of all citizens, above all
of the Catalans.”
The warning
came after Catalonia’s president, Carles Puigdemont, officially
called the independence referendum for October 1, an act he declared
to be “for liberty and democracy”. After a day of tense debate,
the Catalan parliament passed the referendum law late on Wednesday
night, despite furious complaints from opponents in the chamber that
it was engaged in a criminal act.
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