 In September 2012, Artur Mas, then Catalonia's president, requested from the central government a new "fiscal agreement", with the possibility of giving his community powers equal to those of the communities of chartered regime, but prime minister Mariano Rajoy refused.Mas dissolved the Catalan Parliament, called for new elections, and promised to celebrate a referendum on independence within the next four years.Rajoy's government declared that they would use all "legal instruments"—current legislation requires the central executive government or the Congress of Deputies to call for or sanction a binding referendum— to block any such attempt.