Forcadell: Spanish government warnings "restrict the freedom" of Parliament
Speaker reiterates that she acted in accordance with Parliamentary rules
BarcelonaCarme Forcadell, Speaker of the Catalan Parliament, believes that warnings issued on Friday by the Spanish government "restrict the freedom of our Parliament and its members". The warnings of criminal prosecution by Spanish vice president Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría after Friday’s cabinet meeting aim to persuade the Catalan parliament’s Bureau to avoid all future attempts to vote on the conclusions of the constituent process committee.
In a TV interview on Canal 324 —Catalonia’s public news channel— Forcadell said that the message of Santamaría's press conference was "very sad” and reiterated that both she and the parliament’s Bureau merely “followed parliamentary regulations", which oblige them to table a debate on a proposal made by parliamentary groups --in this case, Junts pel Sí and the CUP.
The Speaker complained that the Spanish government has failed to offer any "political proposal" and uses the courts of law against parliament and any proposed debate. Thus, she assured that she is not afraid of the consequences and believes that she did the right thing "at all times".
Carles Puigdemont, President of the Generalitat, expressed his "support and solidarity" with Forcadell in a tweet in which he said that "democracy in Catalonia is not up in the air” (1).
Miquel Iceta, Secretary General of the PSC, also made his opinion known on the issue before Sáenz de Santamaría's press conference. "When someone jumps a red light, if they're caught, they're fined", he said. And he added that he is unaware of who the TC might hold accountable for the deed, but it was clear that "a majority in parliament and the Bureau knowingly decided to do something that the TC had previously ruled as unconstitutional" and, as such, “consequences are to be expected”.
Xavier Garcia Albiol, the PP leader in Catalonia, also expressed his view by saying that Forcadell "must pay the consequences for putting peaceful coexistence at risk" and for "smashing the rule of law”.
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(1) N.T. This is a not-so-veiled reference to the deadlock in Spanish politics where, after a second election in June, the main political parties still seem unable to elect a president.
