UPDATE - Catalonian leader warns Sanchez with no-confidence vote

ADDS REMARKS FROM SPANISH DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - Catalonia's government president said his party’s lawmakers would vote against Spanish prime minister in the next week's vote of confidence in the parliament if the Socialist leader does not propose "to give voice to the people of Catalonia".

In an open letter to the Spanish government published in Catalan daily La Vanguardia, Quim Torra invited Pedro Sanchez to think of "a long haul solution and not a short-term interest".

If Sanchez continues to follow a path that "straggles and criminalizes" the political and democratic will of the Catalans, "it does not make any sense" to give him once again the support to renew the presidency, said Torra.

"Make a proposal to give voice to the people of Catalonia, if not, my position is to vote 'no' to your investiture," Torra warned.

He wrote that Sanchez became premier with the support of the majority of Catalan deputies, pro-independence groups, "in a gesture of generosity" and a vote of confidence that "has not been compensated in any way".

- Referendum off the table

Spanish government closed the doors to the possible negotiation on referendum between the Catalan parliament, reiterating that referendum "is out of any action and dialogue".

"Socialists will never pose any risk to the territorial unity," Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo told reporters.

"We live in a flawless democracy throughout the country, including Catalonia," Calvo added.

"They [Catalans] have never had this level of autonomy in their history as guaranteed by this Constitution," she stressed. "So that, Catalonia has never been so self-government as it is now."

Sanchez will undergo a vote of confidence on July 23 after negotiations to form a minority government led by the ruling PSOE party failed.

In the 350-seat Spanish Assembly, the government needs 176 votes to get the vote of confidence, while the PSOE has 123 deputies.

If Sanchez fails to form a government next week with the vote of confidence, the country will hold its fourth general elections in the last four years.

Torra was elected president in May 2018.

Spain dissolved the Catalan parliament after the government of the semi-autonomous region held an illegal referendum on independence in October 2017 and called fresh elections.