Barcelona, Spain (CNN)Spain’s highest court has suspended a meeting of Catalonia’s regional parliament planned for Monday in an apparent attempt to prevent Catalan President Carles Puigdemont’s expected declaration of independence.
The Constitutional Court said Thursday it had issued the suspension decision following a request from the Catalan Socialist Party.
The parliamentary session was to have been Puigdemont’s first opportunity to make a formal declaration of independence under a Catalan referendum law that the Constitutional Court had previously ruled illegal.
Catalan leader to King: You disappointed many
Catalan leader to King: You disappointed many 01:14
Asked by CNN about the court’s decision, the Catalan government responded: “We will see.”
In a televised address Wednesday, Puigdemont insisted that while others said the vote was illegal, Catalonia would follow “a democratic way” that should be respected.
He also criticized Spain’s King Felipe for failing to heal the country’s divisions, saying the monarch — who gave his own televised statement Tuesday in which he firmly backed the central government — had missed an opportunity to arbitrate in the dispute.
The Spanish government in turn said it “strongly rejects the accusations” Puigdemont directed at the King. “These accusations show that Mr. Puigdemont not only is against the law, but also is outside reality,” the government said.