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Spain's PM warns Catalan officials to drop vote

Spain's prime minister is warning Catalan leaders of "greater harm" if they don't drop plans for an independence referendum that national authorities consider illegal.

 

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in a televised statement on Wednesday night that holding the Oct. 1 vote in violation of the Spanish Constitution is a "totalitarian act."

 

Rajoy said. "Disobedience of the law by a part of the political power is the opposite of democracy."

 

His remarks came as thousands of people remained in the streets of Catalonia's capital, Barcelona, to protest the government's intensifying efforts to stop the referendum.

 

Police arrested a dozen regional officials and seized 10 million ballot papers on Wednesday.

 

Addressing Catalan officials, the prime minister said: "If you care about the tranquility of most Catalans, give up this escalation of radicalism and disobedience."

 

He warned: "You are on time to avoid a greater harm."

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.20.17, 23:53