In front of the Spanish Senate, on Tuesday afternoon, the Spanish
Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, stated that November
9's participatory process was "a failure". Despite the process having
taken place in a calm atmosphere with 2.3 million citizens casting their
vote through a system that made sure that people could not vote twice,
as was certified by independent observers, the Spanish Deptuy PM
downplayed it once again. In addition, she accused the Catalan President
of "ignoring the law" and of using "politics as an excuse". In this
vein, she rejected Mas' offer to talk, which was confirmed on Tuesday
morning. Sáenz de Santamaría highlighted that the Spanish Government
"will not negotiate on the sovereignty of all Spaniards" and "will not
negotiate any secession". "Stop playing", she urged Mas.
Besides, judicial sources confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that the
Public Prosecution Office is about to take the Catalan President and
some members of his government to court. Apparently the complaint is
almost ready and will be filed on Wednesday, after many speculations
about it. Politicians from the People's Party (PP), which runs the
Spanish Government, even announced such a complaint on Monday and
Tuesday morning, which seriously questions the independence of the
Public Prosecutor's Office in Spain. In fact, the head of this office is
directly appointed by the Spanish Government and directly reports to
the Spanish Minister of Justice. The complaint might be against the
Catalan President, Artur Mas; the Vice President, Joana Ortega, who was
in charge of the ballot boxes and announced the vote results; and the
Catalan Minister for Education, Irene Rigau, who authorised using
high-schools to set the polling stations. However, some sources state
that Rigau could be not targeted by the complaint in the end.
Furthermore, the Catalan Minister for Home Affairs, in charge of the
Catalan Police, could also be left out of the complaint.
