Catalonia Catalan parliament needs Puigdemont, says speaker Roger Torrent urges end to direct Madrid rule but calls for dialogue over political crisis Roger Torrent said Carles Puigdemont, who is in self-imposed exile in Brussels and faces arrest on possible charges of sedition in Spain, is the only viable candidate. Photograph: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty ImagesThe speaker of the Catalan parliament has insisted that the deposed regional president, Carles Puigdemont, remains the only candidate to form a new government, as he renewed his call for a negotiated political solution to the independence crisis. Photograph: Thierry Roge/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Spanish government had flatly refused to countenance his return to office, suggesting instead that the Catalan parliament put forward a “clean candidate”. It’s not the Catalan parliament that has the problem here, it’s the Spanish government. But he did say that his party, the Catalan Republican Left, had sought negotiations with the Spanish government.

Source: The Guardian February 09, 2018 13:36 UTC