​ "Government will guarantee the rights of the whole of Catalan society", says Íñigo Méndez de Vigo

News - 2017.9.20

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Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

In a statement to the media, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo defended the actions of the government, as well as that of the judges, prosecutors and the State law enforcement agencies in response to the latest events unfolding in Catalonia.

Íñigo Méndez de Vigo declared that the President of the Regional Government of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, "has spent so long following the orders of the CUP [People's Unity Candidature] that he has forgotten the basic principles of democracy".

The Government Spokesperson underlined that the only risk to democracy "would be if the government allowed the secessionists to achieve their goal of abolishing the Constitution, which protects all Spaniards, and the Statute of Autonomy, which is the founding legislation in Catalonia".

Íñigo Méndez de Vigo stressed that this "is not going to happen" because "no-one is above the law", and if anyone tries to be, "the State is under a duty and acts to defend the rights of all" citizens and "not just of some of them".

"That is democracy. No-one is above the orders of our judges and public prosecutors, who are independent in a rule of law. No-one is above the rulings of the Constitutional Court. What is not democratic is to disobey the law and seek legitimacy that they cannot offer in street demonstrations", added the Government Spokesperson.

He also highlighted that "the government respects more than anyone the present degree of self-rule in Catalonia, and has always loyally collaborated with this".

According to Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, Carles Puigdemont "has put the common institutions at the service of just a few" and "ceased representing the whole of Catalan society" a long time ago.

"The Government of Spain represents and will guarantee the rights of the whole of Catalan society, of those who want, as did their ancestors before, their parents, their grandparents, to continue being Catalans, Spaniards and Europeans", he concluded.

Non official translation