Appearance by President of the Government to assess results of elections in Catalonia

Madrid

President of the Government.- A very good day to you all and thank you very much for attend this press briefing.

As you are aware, the people of Catalonia went to the polls on Sunday and, as you are also aware, these are the third regional elections in the last five years. The issue at hand was to elect their representatives to the Regional Parliament of Catalonia, although some sought to make these elections a plebiscite and thereby commence a process for Catalonia to break away from the rest of Spain. Today we can see that this was not legally possible, as indeed it isn't. Nor have they received the support of the ballot box: not even as many as four in every ten Catalans have voted for a breakaway process.

That is the reality of the facts. Hence, I wish to convey a message of calm to the people of Catalonia as a whole, to the rest of the people of Spain and to all those who outside of Spain have enquired after these elections. Those in favour of a breakaway were never backed by the law and, as from yesterday, nor do they have the support of the majority of Catalan society.

Once again, Catalonia has shown its political plurality. I believe that we can congratulate ourselves and congratulate the citizens of Catalonia on the high turnout at these elections. They have shown democratic maturity and responsibility faced with a demanding challenge to which they were called by the Regional Government of Catalonia.

Hence, what will now start in Catalonia, as from this moment in time, is a new regional parliament. The political forces that won representation yesterday in the Regional Parliament of Catalonia now have to tackle the process to elect a new Regional Government of Catalonia; a government that must have as its mission to work for all the people of Catalonia, and attend to their true needs, resolve their problems and foster greater economic and social well-being. These are the functions of the new government that will be formed, those attributed to it by the Spanish Constitution and the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, the two legislative acts on which its legitimacy is based.

That is why I want to call on the government to be formed from the new elected parliament to govern for all the people of Catalonia; to overcome the split, the tension and the confrontations that have marked recent years, and replace monologue and unilateral imposition with constructive and loyal dialogue because, as I have just mentioned, yesterday showed, once again, that Catalonia is very plural.

I would invite the future government to return Catalonia to the path of normalised co-existence, to plurality, with liberties and respect for the law; to govern, in short, in the general interests of all the people of Catalonia and not only for a part of them. In this task, the Regional Government of Catalonia will find my government fully willing to collaborate, provided this falls within the parameters of the law and with the maximum institutional respect.

From the very first day of this term of office, the Government of Spain, under very difficult conditions, has supported the people of Catalonia and has offered its collaboration in maintaining the economic viability of the Regional Government of Catalonia and the essential services that depend thereupon. We have done this out of institutional loyalty and out of profound political convictions, because no Spaniard, wherever he may live, can be ignored by the Government of Spain and because a strong and supportive country such as ours stands up to its challenges from a standpoint of unity and through the cooperation of all parties.

This same loyalty and willingness to dialogue will also be available to the new Regional Government of Catalonia. It has always had this, it has it now and it will continue to have it but, I repeat, always within the law.

With the same firmness with which I offer our collaboration, I can also assert today that the Government of Spain will continue to ensure that the Rule of Law, the equality of all the people of Spain and the rights and liberties of one and all are respected. The Government of Spain will work henceforth to that end, convinced that we all win by working together, that we have a promising future ahead of us, that we can do great things if we are all united, that we must seek to do this and that this is the wish of the vast majority of the people of Spain.

As you are aware, a meeting of the National Executive Committee of my party will be held this afternoon, which I will chair, at which we will undertake an analysis of the results from the party's point of view and look at what the consequences of the elections that have taken place are. You will be notified of this afterwards but should you have any question in relations to this issue… Two questions, I repeat, in my role as President of the Government.

Q.- You talk about "the loyalty and willingness to dialogue of the government within the law"; do you mean that you are willing to make some kind of legal offer to Catalonia so that not just half of the people of Catalonia feel at ease and not to increase this majority?

President of the Government.- What I am prepared to do, I repeat, as indeed I have always been, is to listen and to talk; and what I am not prepared to do, under any circumstance whatsoever, is to undermine the law. You will find no President of the Government of any advanced democracy, such as ours, who is prepared to undermine the law. I already stated in my speech that the intentions of some people were to and remain outside of the law, and moreover, it has now been shown that they do not count on the support of the majority of the citizens either.

Our disposition regarding the issues that the future Regional Government of Catalonia might wish to raise with us will fall within these parameters. We will then reach an agreement or not, because we may reach an agreement on some issues while on others things might be more difficult… Of course, what I am never going to do is to act against the law.

During the course of this legislature, although what sometimes happens is that things are forgotten, many problems have been resolved. I can remember that, when I came to power, the Regional Government of Catalonia could not receive financing, it had to issue patriotic bonds and pay out an interest rate of 7.75% per annum. We had to create the Regional Liquidity Fund so that the Regional Government of Catalonia and other public authorities could receive financing, and we had to set up the Supplier Payment Fund so that the Regional Government of Catalonia's suppliers could get paid for the services this body had received and for the very goods that had been provided to it.

Hence, there are many things that could be spoken about, of course, but I, while I am President of the Government, will not discuss the unity of Spain, or national sovereignty, or the equality of the Spanish people, of the right and liberties of everyone, or the solidarity between citizens. Hence, if anyone intends to do away with national sovereignty or national unity then they should say so. I am prepared to talk about anything else, and of course I am quite happy to do so, as I have always done; but, if the approach that is going to be made is, as some have intended, to bypass the law, to make statements that contradict the Statute of Autonomy or the Constitution, then the government, among other obligations because we are subject to the Rule of Law, is obliged to ensure that the law is upheld.

Q.- Within this willingness to dialogue, I would like to know whether there is also a possibility of speaking with the leaders of other parties, for example with the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Workers' Party] or Ciudadanos, to try to tackle governing in Catalonia, which would appear to be complex, and I would like to know whether you have indeed already spoken with any of these other leaders, with Pedro Sánchez or Albert Rivera, after becoming aware of the election results.

President of the Government.- I have not spoken with either of the two after becoming aware of the election results, but it is clear that we are in agreement on the main issues with these two parties. I consider that neither of the political parties you have mentioned, nor the political party that is backing the government, my party, the People's Party, will question the basic principles of our co-existence. Hence, I believe that it is good for us to talk and, in fact, we have done just this recently, above all with the leader of the main opposition party.

But, I repeat, dialogue does not only mean speaking with those we have held a certain position with; I believe that you can have dialogue with everyone. I believe that it is very healthy and very democratic; but, of course, what you cannot do, because that would be insane and anti-democratic, is to try to undermine the law, which is the expression of the will of the majority and of the rules that we have enacted to maintain our co-existence.

Hence, I repeat, that is the government's position. The government exists, among other things, among other obligations it has, to guarantee that the law if upheld and then, undoubtedly, to speak and to try to resolve problems in the best way possible. That is what I have always maintained and that is, logically, the position I maintain now.

Thank you very much.