BARCELONA: Catalonia鈥檚 secessionist politicians have admitted that the region鈥檚 independence declaration failed and recriminations have started to fly.
Five days after the Catalan parliament proclaimed a break away from Spain, the new republic鈥檚 civil servants were working directly for the central government which imposed direct rule without finding any resistance, as had initially been feared.
Catalonia鈥檚 deposed, separatist leader Carles Puigdemont had traveled to Brussels where he told independence supporters to prepare for 鈥渁 long stretch鈥� and said it would be better to 鈥渟low down鈥� the independence process rather than risk unrest.
He also accepted the 鈥渃hallenge鈥� of Catalan elections on December 21 as called by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to 鈥渞estore normality鈥� after he imposed temporary direct rule on the semi-autonomous region in a bid to stop secession.
鈥淭he independence movement hasn鈥檛 slowed down, it鈥檚 stopped,鈥� retorted a Spanish government source in Barcelona, who refused to be named.
Santi Vila, who was Puigdemont鈥檚 regional business minister until last week when he resigned after the Catalan leader decided against calling snap elections 鈥� an option some felt could have eased the crisis 鈥� accused his former colleagues Tuesday of naivety.
He said Catalonia hadn鈥檛 been ready to function as an independent republic.
鈥淲here鈥檚 the control over the territory, the control of ports, airports, the management of transport?鈥� he asked.
鈥淲e lacked the necessary political intelligence,鈥� he admitted on Catalonia鈥檚 Rac1 radio, but denied having misled independence supporters.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 true that I have government colleagues who displayed a level of naivety that is surprising at their age.鈥�
Vila put his name forward to lead his Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) 鈥� also Puigdemont鈥檚 party 鈥� into the elections.
PDeCAT is part of the separatist coalition that ruled Catalonia until the regional government was axed by Madrid on Friday, along with leftist nationalist ERC, whose leader Oriol Junqueras was vice president and the region鈥檚 economic czar.
After having encouraged Puigdemont to take the final step toward a unilateral declaration of independence, ERC said it would take part in the regional election.
鈥淲e鈥檙e champions of democracy, no democrat can compete with us,鈥� Junqueras told Catalonia鈥檚 TV3 television Monday.
For its part, the small far-left CUP party, an ally of Puigdemont, asked for time Tuesday to 鈥渞eflect on what happened, because we鈥檝e seen the limits of institutional mechanisms.鈥�
The independence movement sought EU support after scenes of brutal police repression during an outlawed independence referendum on October 1 and the detention of two high-profile separatist civil leaders suspected of sedition 鈥� in vain.
PDeCAT spokeswoman Marta Pascal summed up her impression of the current situation as 鈥渃rikey, what happened here?,鈥� pointing to the fact there had been no international recognition or that Catalonia鈥檚 regional police force were now following Madrid鈥檚 orders.
Over the past years, as it built up its independence drive, the Catalan government had sought the help of advisers to craft a new republic and make it a reality.
One such advisory grouping was the National Transition Advisory Council, which put together a 鈥渨hite paper鈥� on independence.
In that paper, it had specifically warned that the success of a unilateral proclamation would depend on whether the new republic could effectively be governed.
Sandra Leon, a political analyst who teaches at England鈥檚 York University, said that far from focusing on a new republic, Catalan separatists were now looking ahead to the elections.
鈥淓veryone is going to try and elaborate a tale of what happened in a way that will be most beneficial to them,鈥� she said.
鈥淭here was a declaration of independence in which many people had placed their expectations and all of a sudden, days after it happened, there is no clear script.鈥�
Former Catalan president Jose Montilla, a Socialist and rival of the nationalists, on Tuesday accused them of having lied.
They 鈥渉ave deceived people, they have messed with them, they sold them something they knew was a lie, wasn鈥檛 possible,鈥� he told Catalan television.
鈥淲hy don鈥檛 they face the consequences? Where are the representatives of the Catalan republic now?,鈥� he asked.