In a speech to regional lawmakers at an extraordinary parliamentary session delayed by more than an hour in Barcelona, Puigdemont said he “assumed the mandate of the people for Catalunya to be an independent state in the form of a republic”.

But he then immediately added:

“I ask the parliament to suspend the independence declaration so that we can enter into dialogue in the coming weeks”.

“Mediatory measures have been launched. All (of them) are very serious, difficult to imagine some time ago. Some at national level, other at state and global level,” he continued.

“There is a desire for dialogue that runs through Europe. I ask the Spanish government to listen, and for the European Union to get involved. If everyone fulfils their obligations, in the coming days the conflict can be resolved without betraying the will of the people.”

Citing Spanish government sources, newspaper El Pais said the central government considered Puigdemont’s words “a declaration of independence”. News agency AFP also took a similar lin

“It’s unacceptable to make a tacit declaration of independence to then suspend it in an explicit manner,” a central government spokesman told AFP.

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Legal experts on international law and Spanish constitutional law told The Local earlier on Tuesday that a ‘deferred’ declaration of independence is a way of buying time and encouraging international mediation.

Source:Thelocal.es