Puigdemont requests start of referendum talks in letter to Rajoy

BarcelonaA formal request for negotiations on Catalonia’s independence referendum is now a reality. Following the Catalan government’s decision on Tuesday to make a formal request to begin negotiations, on Wednesday Catalan President Carles Puigdemont sent a letter to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy informing him that "the inevitable moment has arrived" for the two governments to sit down and negotiate.

In his letter, Puigdemont reminds Rajoy that he has personally assured him on several occasions that the Catalan government has "the utmost desire to seek a mutually agreed political solution" in response to the Catalan people’s demands to decide their own future, and that the Spanish government has also recognized that the Catalan question "requires its full attention". Puigdemont goes on to say that he believes "the inevitable moment has arrived when it is necessary for both governments to sit down at a table and negotiate".

In addition to the brief letter, the President of the Catalan Government has also sent Rajoy the government agreement approved by Puigdemont’s cabinet and the motion passed by the Catalan Parliament a week ago which urges the government to set in motion the necessary initiatives to obtain the guidance, recognition and endorsement of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (The Venice Commission) regarding the conditions that the holding of the referendum ought to meet.

Finally, Puigdemont states that the Catalan government is awaiting Rajoy’s response in order to begin talks "as soon as possible". Depending on the response to the letter –and the conference Puigdemont, Vice President Oriol Junqueras and Foreign Minister Raul Romeva held on Monday in Madrid– the Catalan government will initiate the unilateral path.

According to Europa Press, sources close to the Spanish government have stated that Rajoy will reply to Puigdemont’s letter in the coming days. In his letter Rajoy will insist on the approach defended by Madrid in recent days, namely, to invite the Catalan president to make his case for a referendum before the Spanish parliament in Madrid.