Catalonia names exiled, jailed politicians in new cabinet
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Spain called Catalonia’s new cabinet a "provocation" on Saturday, after the region’s new leader Quim Torra announced the inclusion in his government of two exiled politicians and two others currently in jail after backing independence.

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Newly appointed Catalan president Quim Torra (R) delivers a speech next to Catalan parliament speaker Roger Torrent during an official swearing-in ceremony at the Generalitat Palace in Barcelona, Spain, May 17, 2018. (Photo: VCG)

Torra – who was elected by the Catalan parliament on Monday and sworn in on Thursday – named 13 "advisors" to his government, including Jordi Turull and Josep Rull, who are being held in custody just outside Madrid.

Two others, Toni Comin and Lluis Puig, are in exile in Belgium, where they fled with deposed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont. 

Torra’s appointments could still be blocked by Spain, which has insisted his administration be "legal and viable."

On Saturday, the Spanish government criticised Torra's choices as a "new provocation" given that "some of them are on the run from justice or in detention."

A day earlier, government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo had warned that "an advisor or minister cannot exercise their duties as such while they are in prison." 

Catalonia has been in political limbo since the central government deposed Puigdemont following a failed declaration of independence on October 27, and imposed direct rule on the northeastern Spanish region.

Torra’s swearing-in has come after a number of failed attempts to name a leader who was neither in jail nor abroad.

A 55-year-old editor who has long campaigned for independence and was handpicked by Puigdemont, he has described himself as a "caretaker president" with Puigdemont the "legitimate" leader. 

No promise to obey

Puigdemont is currently in Berlin awaiting potential extradition to Spain, where he faces jail on charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds.

In a brief swearing-in ceremony on Thursday, Torra promised to "loyally fulfill the duties of the post of regional president being faithful to the will of the Catalan people represented by the Catalan parliament." 

But he did not promise to obey the Spanish Constitution nor the statute that regulates Catalonia's autonomy, and appeared flanked only by a Catalan flag, without the traditional Spanish flag and portrait of the king required by protocol.

Torra has however written to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, requesting a meeting "without any conditions" in a gesture that observers said could herald an easing of tensions between Madrid and the separatists.

Rajoy has said that, once a full and legal government is running in Catalonia, he will return direct rule to Catalonia.