Puigdemont's Catalonia statement in 15 sentences

from La Vanguardia

Sergi Quitian , Barcelona

10/10/2017 20:00 | Updated 10/10/2017 20:27

The President of the [Catalan] Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont , appeared on Tuesday October 10 before the plenary of the Parliament and at his own request to report the results of the referendum on independence on 1 October .
The speech has been studied to the last detail in the last hours and has been controversial until the last moment in a meeting that have maintained the parliamentary groups of Junts pel Yes and the CUP and that has caused that the president Puigdemont requested the delay one hour from the beginning of the session.
Finally, at 19.00 in the afternoon and before all the deputies of the Parliament and more than 1,000 journalists, Puigdemont has assumed the mandate to turn Catalonia into an independent State in the form of a republic while at the same time asking the House to suspend the application of the DUI to open a process of dialogue.

'I assume the mandate of the people that Catalunya will become an independent state in the form of a republic '

'The Government and myself propose to the Parliament to suspend the effects of the declaration of independence to establish a process of dialogue '

'What I expose today is not a personal opinion, derives from the results of 1-O '

'The 1-O Catalunya held a referendum on self-determination in extreme conditions, amidst attacks on people who queued to introduce their ballot '

'The images of 1-O will remain in our memory forever, we will never forget it '

'We must all take our responsibility to de-escalate the situation. I will not contribute with the word or with the gesture to increase it '

'The votes favorable to the Estatut were 145,000 less than that obtained the yes to the independence the past 1-O '

'Millions of citizens have come to the rational conclusion that the only way to guarantee coexistence is for Catalonia to become a '

'From the point of view of self-government the last seven years have been the worst of the last four decades. There has been a lamination of skills and a shocking contempt against the language, culture and way of life in Catalonia '

'Catalan demands have always been expressed peacefully and from majorities obtained at the polls.'

'I ask for an effort to know and recognize what has brought us here. We are not criminals, we are not crazy, we are not abductees or coup. We are normal people who want to express themselves '

'We have nothing against Spain or against the Spaniards, on the contrary, we want to find ourselves better. To date the relationship does not work '

'Police repression and disqualification have been the response of the Spanish state to a peaceful demand '

'The polls have said yes to independence and this is the way that I am willing to go .'

There is a plea for dialogue that crosses all Europe, which already feels called '