Catalan leader says not attempt to declare independence during mandate

Carles Puigdemont, President of the Generalitat de Catalonia, on Monday said the Catalonia region in the northeast of Spain would not attempt to declare independence from Spain during his mandate.

Speaking to the economic daily newspaper Expansion, Puigdemont said he was not looking to declare independence before 2019.

"It is not planned and it is not our commitment," he said, before insisting this did not mean the end of the process. He said his party would do everything necessary for the autonomous region to become an independent state, including asking for the possibility of a referendum on the issue.

Puigdemont assumed office in January, three and a half months after the Sept. 27 elections for the regional assembly saw pro-independence parties win a majority of seats in the Generalitat, but not a majority of votes at the polls.

The separatists had presented the election as a plebiscite on whether or not they should try to separate from Spain within 18 months, but negotiations between the Junts pel Si (JpS) coalition and the left-wing CUP party dragged on and were only completed when JpS leader Artur Mas agreed to step aside to let Puigdemont be named as a consensus candidate.

Recent polls have shown that support for independence in the Catalan region has waned in recent months and the results in the Dec. 20 general election saw separatist parties lose ground, all of which implies they will struggle to hold onto their majority whenever the next regional elections are held. Endit