• Catalonia: Double pressure from Quim Torra to the Central Electoral Board and the Parliament

The Parlament could go back today a couple of years and relive a day that ends with an imputation to its president for disobedience. It was in 2016 when the then president Carme Forcadell, currently in prison for sedition, decided that the Catalan Chamber could vote on the conclusions of the commission to study the constitutional process, despite the express prohibition of the Constitutional Court, which ended her investigation in the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC). The president of the Parliament would take the same route if he allows the president of the Generalitat Quim Torra to continue as a deputy and vote on the budgets after the Supreme Court ordered to comply with the order of the Central Electoral Board (JEC) to withdraw the seat.

The Mesa de la Parlament must discuss before the start of the plenary the Citizens and PPC requests for the execution of the JEC order, although everything indicates that the PSC will take the opportunity to request again the lawyers of the Chamber to write a report to determine if Torra's situation has changed after the last resolution of the Supreme . A few weeks ago, the lawyers of the Catalan Chamber already prepared a report, which is not binding, and that he considered that the JEC was not competent to order the disqualification of a deputy on which a firm sentence does not weigh.

In this sense, Torrent could leave the decision on the withdrawal of the seat in the hands of the general secretary of the Parliament, Xavier Muro, when making a purely legal interpretation of the situation, although the Provincial Board of Barcelona will issue a new credential to the next deputy on Monday in the JXCat list.

Therefore, everything remains in the hands of Torrent who must determine if he withdraws the act of autonomous deputy to Torra or if he risks incurring a crime of disobedience and allows him to vote in full. In addition, the Provincial Electoral Board of Barcelona, ​​at the request of the JEC, gave 48 hours to the general secretary of the Parliament to communicate which JxCat representative will replace Torra in the Chamber. The Supemo refused to suspend in a precautionary manner the order of the JEC to withdraw the act of regional deputy to the president of the Generalitat although his conviction for disobedience determined by the TSJC is still not firm after Torra refuses to comply with the order to withdraw sovereign symbols from public buildings of the Generalitat during the election campaign of the general elections last April.

However, Torrent is receiving more 'friend fire' pressures. The first vice president of the Parliament, Josep Costa, assured TV3 yesterday that the Bureau will not remove the deputy act from Torra and remarked "only the parliamentary bodies can decide to end the mandate of a deputy and that, therefore, the Electoral Board does not It has no competence or authority "for it. Costa considers that, under this interpretation, there is no disobedience.

The president of the Generalitat also used social networks to remember that in early January 67 deputies ratified their status as deputy and "defended the sovereignty of the Parliament." "This is the issue at stake (sovereignty) for those of us who believe in popular will and that the sovereignty of the Catalans resides in the Parliament, of course," he said.

On the other hand, the leader of Cs in Catalonia, Lorena Roldán, warned Roger Torrent yesterday that "they will not shake their hands to go to Justice and denounce their disobedience" if they do not meet the requirement of the Central Electoral Board (JEC) to execute the withdrawal of the seat to the president of the Generalitat after his disqualification. "Mr. Torrent, we Democrats respect the law and court decisions," said Roldan who recalled that his party will go to court if Torrent "still does not defend" the institutions.

On Saturday, the Provincial Electoral Board inadmitted the appeal of Torra for lack of "foundation" and maintains that he must leave his deputy minutes in the Parliament and that the chamber communicate the name of his substitute. This last agreement can still be appealed within 24 business hours of being notified.

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  • Citizens
  • constitutional Court
  • Roger Torrent
  • Quim Torra
  • PSC
  • Lorena Roldan
  • Catalonia

CataluñaCs requires Roger Torrent to comply with the Electoral Board order and withdraw the seat to Quim Torra

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