Carles Puigdemont Suspends Catalan-Independence.
"Based on the results of October 1st, Catalonia has earned the right to be an independent country and has earned the right to be listened to and respected,"Carles Puigdemont told the regional parliament on Tuesday.
Catalonia's leader said, I accepts the "mandate from the people" to "become, an independent state", but stopped short of declaring independence as he seeks dialogue with Spain.
"By being the president, I assume my responsibility to declare that Catalonia should become an independent state in the form of a republic," he added.
He then urge parliament to suspend its mandate to immediately declare independence based on this month's referendum so that dialogue could begin.
On Sunday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told Spanish newspaper, El Pais, that "Spain is not going to divide and national unity will be maintained. To do so, we will use all of the instruments that the legislation gives us.
It falls to the government to take the decision and to do so at the right time".
Earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said, "We are ready for any circumstances because we are already vaccinated against the fanaticism of Mr Puigdemont and any hope that he will return to sanity and serenity.
Switching from the Catalan language to Spanish as he addressed the regional parliament on Tuesday, Puigdemont appeared to return a thinly veiled barb at the deputy prime minister's comments.
"Our demands have always been expressed peacefully, we are not criminals, we are not crazy, we are not staging a coup," he said, adding: "We cannot force the people to accept a status quo that they can't accept."
The Catalans held an independence referendum on October 1 and secured a 92 percent vote in favour of separating from Spain.
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