"We constitute the Catalan Republic as an independent and sovereign State, of the rule of law, democratic and social". That's the formal phrasing used in the declaration of independence that has been signed by the deputies of JxSí (Together for Yes) and CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy) in the Parliament, with the president, Carles Puigdemont, and his government leading. The deputies signed the document one by one as their colleagues Lluís Llach and Teresa Vallverdú read their names.
The document is four pages long and, under the Parliament's shield, is entitled "Declaration of the representatives of Catalonia". The text starts by addressing "the people of Catalonia and all the peoples of the world".
The document, which urges the Catalan government to make possible the full effects of the declaration of independence, enacts the law of Transitional Jurisprudence and starts the constituent participatory process, states the willingness to open negotiations with Spain which "would necessarily have to be from a position of equality" and alerts the EU and the international community to the constitution of the Catalan Republic and the proposed negotiations with Spain.
Once the deputies had finished signing the document, the president of JxSí, Lluís Corominas, the CUP deputy, Anna Gabriel, and the ERC JxSí spokesperson Marta Rovira, read it to those present.
The document calls on the international community to intervene to stop "the violation of civil and political rights in progress" and to follow the negotiation process with Spain, underlining the unequivocal will of Catalonia to join the international community as soon as possible.
"We call on each and every one of the citizens of the Catalan Republic to make ourselves worth of the liberty we've given ourselves and to construct a state which translates into action and behaviour collective inspirations," the text concludes.