"Not a single step back". With these words, the speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Carme Forcadell, tonight responded to the decision by Mariano Rajoy's Spanish government to activate article 155 of the constitution, sack the entire Catalan cabinet, and suspend the competencies of the Catalan legislature. Forcadell gave a clear and forceful rejection of the Spanish government's decision: "Today we promise to defend the sovereignty of Parliament, its full powers and the rights of the elected representatives to exercise their functions, to defend democracy", she declared after accusing Spain's Rajoy of carrying out an "authoritarian coup" and going way beyond acceptable limits.
The speaker made her statement in the Catalan Parliament, accompanied by several members of the parliament's presiding bureau, representatives of the ruling Together for Yes coalition Lluís Guinó, Anna Simó and Ramona Barrufet, as well as left wing MP Joan Nuet of CSQP.
"Prime Minister Rajoy is not aware that when he attacks the institutions and elected representatives of this country, he is also attacking its citizens, because the main victims of his decision are the people of Catalonia who sees their rights being damaged," she warned, after recalling that the 135 MPs of the current parliament gained their seats in elections with unprecedented voter participation.
The speaker accused Rajoy of sending a message to citizens that what they think and what they want do not matter to him. "They want to take the Parliament which the people voted for, and to do so stepping over the legal barriers, because article 155 does not allow them to do what they want to do", she asserted.
Forcadell stated that in this decision the Spanish Government has neither legality or legitimacy on its side, and nor does it have the support of Catalan society.
"Today, Prime Minister Rajoy has been able to do what he has been pursuing for the whole of this legislature: to dictate what this Parliament has to say", Forcadell assured, accusing the head of the Spanish executive of having wanted to take control of Parliament from the Public Prosecutor's Office.
According to Forcadell, the Spanish leader "intends that the Catalan Parliament will stop being democratic". "And this we will not allow", she declared.
"We will not take a single step back. The Catalan people chose us as their legitimate representatives. We promise today, more than ever, to work ceaselessly so that this Parliament can continue representing what Catalans have voted for", she concluded.
A group of supporters waited for Mrs Forcadell at the doors of the parliament building and gave her an ovation as she was leaving.