Catalan president threatens to withdraw parliamentary support

Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Catalan President Quim Torra said Tuesday he would withdraw parliamentary support for Spain's minority government unless Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez offers a new plan for regional independence by the end of the month.

Torra issued the ultimatum a day after police clashed with protesters observing the one-year anniversary of a Catalan independence referendum, which the Spanish government declared illegal.

"If there is no agreed mechanism by November, then the pro-independence parties will no longer guarantee stability in the Spanish parliament to Mr Pedro Sánchez," Torra said.

Sánchez's Socialist Workers's Party holds 84 of the 350 seats in Spain's lower chamber, the Congress of Deputies, and relies on smaller parties to pass key legislation.

Spanish government spokeswoman, Education Minister Isabel Celaá, responded to Torra's ultimatum, stating the government wouldn't be forced into a new independence offer.

"The president of the Catalan government doesn't need to wait until November for our answer. We'll give it to him right now," Celaá said.

On Monday, Torra told a crowd of demonstrators in Sant Julià de Ramis, the city where former President Carles Puigdemont went to vote in the referendum before being stopped by police, to "keep putting on the pressure" on the government.

Police estimated that 180,000 took part in protests in Barcelona, while some protesters crossed barriers in an attempt to make their way into the Catalan parliament.

The Catalan police force said 30 of its officers were injured stopping protesters from entering the parliament and demonstrating outside the police headquarters.

Sánchez criticized Torra for encouraging the demonstrators to pressure the government and called for a "return to parliament" after Monday's clashes.

"President Torra must fulfil his responsibilities and not jeopardize political normalization by encouraging radicals to besiege the institutions that represent all Catalans," Sánchez said. "Violence is not the way."

Celaá also said Torra had made a mistake by "cheering on the radicals" in his address and again criticized his ultimatum.

"He's making another mistake today by tossing around threats that only serve to damage the coexistence between Catalans," she said.