Neither the previous president, head of Junts per Catalunya, Carles Puigdemont, nor the previous vice-president, leader of ERC, Oriol Junqueras. Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy has again demanded the Catalan Parliament to invest a "normal" president using the "normal" procedure, in other words, one "who can be present at their investiture, govern, debate with the opposition and submit to oversight". "A president who isn't undergoing legal proceedings", he said in a dinner at the ABC Forum in Madrid, where he announced a measure whereby savings can be retrieved from pensions plans and funds after 10 years, without waiting for retirement.
The head of the executive directly named Puigdemont as being responsible for the investiture being stalled. "There are ever more Catalans wondering how long an autonomous community can be subject to the will and fluctuations of a single person for," he said. He criticised Inés Arrimadas for not standing for investiture to force time limits to start running, but guaranteed that the central executive is already carrying out the task of governing. "I understand that many don't understand why a pro-Constitution alternative isn't presented to the current situation," he said.
Rajoy boasted that approving article 155 of the Constitution "without partisanship" and with the negotiated support of PSOE and Ciudadanos had demonstrated that "those who believed that they could live outside of the law" in reality "only managed to be out of government", alluding to his firing of the president, vice-president and ministers. He also congratulated the actions of the justice system, about which he said that "from their independence, they protected the rights of all and establish the liability of those who place themselves outside of the law".
Private plans bailout
The prime minister announced an extraordinary measure, to be presented as a royal decree this Friday, which will allow those who are saving in pensions plans and funds to recover part or all of their savings after 10 years of contributions. They will also "very noticeably" lower the commissions which savers pay to the managing entities. According to government sources, the measure will benefit at least 8 million savers. The prime minister also said that "the public pensions system is guaranteed" and the measure was compatible with private plans.