New Spanish legal challenge against Parliament's motion is 'bad news', says President
Socialists say they had "no other option" but to challenge text in Court
The new legal challenge by the Spanish government to a pro-independence motion passed by Parliament is "bad news," the Catalan president Quim Torra said on Saturday.
"We are facing a political conflict, we need to do politics," he insisted in comments to the press.
"The judicialization of politics must stop. The judicialization of Catalonia's right to self-determination must stop," he added.
The Catalan parliament passed a 2015 motion confirming its commitment towards an independent Catalonia on Thursday. The day after, the Spanish government announced plans to challenge the move in the Constitutional Court.
The decision came before a much expected meeting on Monday between Torra and Spanish president Pedro Sánchez.
President Torra insisted that, despite the legal challenge, he will go to Madrid "willing to negotiate."
Torra wants to demand Sánchez to agree on a referendum. The Spanish government spokeswoman already said on Friday that such an agreement is completely ruled out.
"We are appealing to an international right," said Torra, referring to self-determination. "Catalans have earned their right to self-determination," he added.
"If a new period of dialogue has really started, I want to know who will meet me on Monday. Pedro Sánchez, the one committed to dialogue with Catalonia, or Pedro Sánchez, the one supporting Article 155?" asked the Catalan president.
A senior member of the Socialist party in Catalonia, Salvador Illa, defended the Spanish government decision to send the motion to Court.
"The Spanish government did not have any other option," he said. "Politicians can make mistakes, but they should try not to repeat the same mistakes of the past, because they go nowhere," he added, rejecting the possibility of a unilateral independence.
According to Illa, passing a pro-independence motion in Parliament was a mistake. Illa urged President Torra to "make the most of the opportunity" to engage in dialogue with the Spanish government.
Meanwhile, unionist Cs urged the Spanish president not to meet the Catalan leader on Monday. One of its senior MPs, Fernando de Páramo, said the meeting should be cancelled until Torra "gives up his plan to declare independence again" and "asks for forgiveness for insulting Catalans and Spaniards."
Cs accused Spanish president Pedro Sánchez of "selling out Spain" to be in power and allowing pro-independence parties to keep asking for separation.