The Latest Events in Catalonia

On September 28th the Spanish High Court unanimously confirmed a sentence against Quim Torra, the President of the parliament in Catalonia, of a ban on holding public office for 18 months for a “stubborn and obstinate” refusal to obey electoral regulations. This meant that from September 29th he was no longer the president, no longer an MP, and banned from holding any political position in local, regional, national and international government.

This came as no surprise to anyone as it was a foregone conclusion that this would happen. Last December 19th, the Catalan High Court found Qium To r r a , a h a r d - l i n e s u p p o r t e r o f C a t a l a n independence, guilty of disobedience for refusing to take down a banner from the Catalan parliament, during the campaigning ahead of elections in May last year, supporting jailed separatist leaders. He had also refused to remove yellow ribbons from public buildings which are a symbol of the independence movement. Spain’s National Electoral Board had ruled that they violated the rules on maintaining neutrality during election campaigns, and this was never in dispute, apart from Quim Torra who claimed it was a freedom of expression. He was given the ban on holding public office for 18 months with a fine of 30,000 euros plus court costs but appealed this to the High Court. His refusal was stupid, taking into account that he is a lawyer, as the predicted outcome on October 28th has plunged the parliament into new problems and d i s a r r a y t h a t c o u l d h a v e b e e n a v o i d e d .

He has been the Catalan President for just under two and a half years and always stated that he was a “stand-in” for Carles Puigdemont, the President at the time of the illegal referendum and illegal declaration of independence in October 2017. Carles Puigdemont fled Spain to avoid arrest and has been living in Belgium ever since with a Spanish arrest warrant over his head if he ever comes back to Spain.

The deputy president of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès, replaced Torra and the Catalan government had to meet to approve a decree appointing him to the role temporarily. Once this was done there had to be approval for a new president to be elected, and it was another foregone conclusion that there would be no agreement. Quim Torra's party refused to nominate anyone else to take over. As a result, af ter two months of fur ther deadlock, Pere Aragonès would have to call for new elections for the whole parliament that take place 54 days later. This was entirely short circuited on October 2nd when new elections were announced for February 14th. With pro and anti-independence and traditional parties, any real stability following these elections is highly unlikely.

Quim Torra

Following the illegal declaration of independence in October 2017, the Spanish Parliament invoked article 155 of the Spanish Constitution that allows central government to take over a regional government in the event of a constitutional crisis, in this case Catalonia. Their parliament was dissolved, new elections were mandated and various politicians were taken to cour t for sedition (treason), misappropriation of public funds, and disobedience. Six senior politicians and two heads of political organisations were given prison terms of nine to thirteen years. A lawyer has put in an official request for pardons, and this has to be acted on. The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has announced that this will be considered by the Ministry of Justice, but this has caused consternation between other political parties. If agreed in parliament, any eventual pardons would have to be submitted to the Spanish King for his approval.