Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has decided, in the end, to not go to the meeting of the commission of the Spanish Senate tomorrow, Thursday, which will analyse the application of article 155 of the Spanish Constitution. Nor will he attend the full Senate meeting on Friday.
Sources from the Catalan executive attribute the decision to the fact that the "Spanish government has already decided to apply [article] 155". The Senate's president, Pio García Escudero, had invited Puigdemont to appear in front of either Thursday's commission or Friday's full meeting. Friday's meeting will include the vote needed to approve the enacting of article 155 which would see the intervention of the central government in Catalan autonomy.
The objective of Puigdemont's suggested appearance was to argue the Catalan government's case against the article. One of the measures planned through the article is the removal from office of the president himself, alongside the vice-president and whole cabinet. Their roles are to be taken over by the central government.
The speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Carme Forcadell, has already informed the parliamentary groups that the Parliament meeting requested by Puigdemont to analyse the issue of article 155 will start at 4pm Thursday, not at 10am as had been previously announced.