Rajoy puts the pressure on, sets January 17 to call Parliament

Despite having only 4% of the votes in Catalonia but with all the weight of Article 155 in hand, Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy yesterday used his final press conference of the year to dictate to Parliament. With a turbulent January ahead, with Carles Puigdemont in exile with four ministers and Oriol Junqueras attendant on judge Pablo Llarena to decide his fate on January 4, Rajoy has added even more pressure by choosing Wednesday 17 to constitute the Catalan Parliament. Between now andJanuary 17, Junts per Catalunya and Esquerra Republicana will need to work hard to come to an agreement because as of then, Parliament will have just 10 days to convene the session of investiture of the 131st President of the Generalitat of Catalonia.

During Rajoy’s summary of the year, the P.M. avoided any reference to the cases of corruption his party faces, prefering instead to focus on the economy and Catalonia. In reference to a future president in Catalonia, Rajoy claimed “it is absurd to even consider anyone presiding over a government by video-conference,“ and reiterated that Puigdemont is in Brussels by his own choice. His words were backed by the Basque Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, who warned that “no one can govern a country via the Internet.”