Catalan leader rules out independence referendum

Catalan President Artur Mas said that an independence referendum which was scheduled for Nov 9 will not be held due to the lack of legal guarantees.

Mas, who met members of the Catalan political groups Monday, is thought to have proposed a process which will allow Catalan citizens to express their opinion over what should be the political future over the region of Catalonia, Xinhua reported.

This could lead to the calling of new election for the Catalan regional parliament, which Mas will attempt to use as a vote for a renewed independence referendum.

Last weekend, Mas had assured that he would go ahead with the vote, saying the parties in favour of the referendum had to "decide if they were part of the solution or part of the problem".

The Spanish government has already considered the referendum to be unconstitutional.

The Catalan regional government has fallen behind in the time-scale in several issues such as preparing electoral lists and the electoral census and as a result any vote Nov 9 would lack the necessary guarantees.