ONE of Catalonia’s pro-independence MPs has warned the Spanish prime minister that his budget will fail to attract enough votes to be passed by parliament if rebellion charges against jailed Catalan leaders are not dropped.

Joan Tardà, a Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) member of Spain’s Congress, called on Pedro Sánchez to address the issue of self-determination and the case against those in jail.

Sánchez came to power in June with support from the pro-independence lobby, part of a cross-party coalition that helped the Socialist oust his predecessor Mariano Rajoy.

READ MORE: Scottish MPs call for Europe to act in Catalonia and Spain dispute

However, with only 84 seats out of 350, his party still relies on cross-party support to implement its political agenda. Tardà warned Sánchez: “If you do not urge the state attorney general to withdraw the accusation of rebellion, how will it be possible, for example, to come to an agreement on the budget? It’s just about impossible.”

Sánchez repeated that he would not negotiate a Catalan referendum and said his government had resumed dialogue with Catalan parties in pursuit of “institutional normalisation”.

Nine Catalan leaders are in jail for their part in last October’s referendum and declaration of independence, including ERC leader and former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras.

Seven Catalan politicians have fled the country to avoid prosecution, some of whom also face rebellion charges, including former president Carles Puigdemont.

A Scottish MP, meanwhile, has said negotiations on the future relationship between Catalonia and Spain will not go anywhere until political prisoners are freed.

Inverclyde MP Ronnie Cowan, who has been penning a Catalan diary for The National, said yesterday: “Jordi Sànchez, former president of the Catalan National Assembly, told me from his prison cell that the Supreme Court was contaminated, and the majority of judges were using political prisoners as hostages.

“If this is true, then it is hard to see how anyone can enter into negotiations where the agreed outcomes can be trusted.

“While Spain keeps nine people in jail for their part in the referendum, it is hard to see where any negotiations can go.

“Quim Torra, the president of Catalonia, has an almost insurmountable task to have meaningful engagement with Madrid while the Catalan people’s democratically-elected representatives remain either in jail or exile.”

Jordi Cuixart’s wife, Txell Bonet, has called for a country-wide strike should the prisoners be found guilty by the Spanish justiciary. She also called on people to mount demonstrations at Spain’s Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.

Cuixart is charged with rebellion, which carries a sentence of up to 30 years in jail, but Bonet suspects another reason for trumping up the charges.

She told the Catalan News Agency (ACN): “I think he is in pre-trial detention because there is a plan to criminalise civil mobilisation, the demonstrations that took place in Catalonia. The Catalan population, as it has proven, can mobilise and take to the streets to not accept the sentence.

“There could be another work stoppage in the country like on October 3 when a sentence is made and is not just.

“Not accepting the sentence means not remaining silent, doing something, doing it in parallel, it all adds up.”

Although no trial dates have been set, she said she was suspicious that they would not be fair: “There are a lot of issues and things that have happened that demonstrate that this trial is not fair at all.

“But at least this trial will be an opportunity to tell the world, to spread the truth, and to demonstrate that there is a big violation of fundamental rights. They are not guilty at all.”