DHAKA: Spain is to start suspending Catalonian autonomy on Saturday (October 21), as its leader threatened to declare independence, reports BBC.

The Spanish government said ministers would meet to activate Article 155 of the constitution, allowing it to take over running of the region.

Catalonia's leader said earlier the region's parliament would vote on independence, backed in a disputed referendum on 1 October, if Spain "continues repression".

Some fear the moves could spark unrest.

"The Spanish government will continue with the procedures outlined in Article 155 of the Constitution to restore legality in Catalonia's self-government," the government statement said.

"It denounces the attitude maintained by those in charge of the Generalitat [Catalan government] to seek, deliberately and systematically, institutional confrontation despite the serious damage that is being caused to the coexistence and the economic structure of Catalonia.

"No-one doubts that the Spanish government will do all it can to restore the constitutional order."

Article 155 of Spain's 1978 constitution, which cemented democratic rule after the death of dictator General Franco three years earlier, allows Madrid to impose direct rule in a crisis but it has never been invoked.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy set the deadline of 10:00 local time (08:00 GMT) for Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont to offer a definitive answer on the independence question, and called on him to "act sensibly".
"It's not that difficult to reply to the question: has Catalonia declared independence? Because if it has, the government is obliged to act in one way, and if it has not, we can talk here," he said in parliament on Wednesday.

As well as the ruling PP, Mr Rajoy has the support of the centre-left Socialists and centrist Cuidadanos (Citizens) on the Catalan crisis.
Between them they control at least 254 out of 350 seats in the lower house - the Congress of Deputies - and at least 214 out of 266 seats in the Senate.

However, there have been sharp exchanges in recent days, with the head of one left-wing Catalan party accusing the government of choosing humiliation, repression and fear over dialogue.

The radical left-wing Podemos party and other regional leftist groups are also opposed to the government position, and have protested against the detention of Catalan activists.

BDST: 1640 HRS, OCT 19, 2017
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