Government calls for "unified and forceful" demonstrations if TC disqualifies Forcadell

Neus Munté, Minister of the Presidency and government spokesperson, called for "unified and forceful" demonstrations if Carme Forcadell, the Speaker of the Catalan Parliament, is disqualified from office for not having blocked the vote on the conclusions of Constitutional Process Study Commission. "If they make this decision, which I hope will not happen, it will have to elicit a response from the people, political parties, and pro-independence organizations that is, as always, civic, peaceful, and entirely democratic". These comments were made in an interview with Europa Press.

Munté hopes that, in the event of a disqualification, pro-independence forces will send a message of unity and civility: "We are being watched and observed from abroad [...] and many people surely do not understand the Spanish government's position of stonewall reluctance, lack of understanding, zero dialogue, and persecution of a democratic process”.

For this reason, she hopes that common sense will prevail in Spanish institutions and Forcadell will not be disqualified, because it would be a "tremendously unjust decision in the eyes of the entire world", as she is a democratically elected parliamentary Speaker, argued Munté.

Indeed, she recalled that "other times, when faced with the intensity with which the PP government has repeatedly appealed Catalan regulations and laws before the Constitutional Court (TC)", the judges have chosen to deny or lift suspensions because —in her opinion— a coherent analysis of the situation has prevailed.

If this consistency does not prevail and there is a disqualification, Munté referred to the "powerful" message from former Parliament Speakers Joan Rigol, Ernest Benach, and Núria de Gispert, who encouraged Forcadell to continue doing her job and presiding over the Chamber, even if disqualified.

The government spokeswoman supported this option, but dismissed talk of disobedience, and instead chose to emphasize obedience to the democratic mandate from the 27-S elections and the deployment of the roadmap towards independence: "I refuse to be carried away by the language of disobedience in a negative sense when what we are doing in Catalonia is deeply positive and against nobody".

Forcadell followed the rules

Munté argued that Carme Forcadell did not block the vote in Parliament because "she complied strictly with the rules" of the Chamber, which state that a vote can be tabled if two groups request it; in this case, JxSí and the CUP did so.

Munté criticized that "the Catalan government has a very different view of the role of a parliament than what we see there [in Madrid], where currently everything is paralyzed and there is no oversight of the executive branch" because it is a caretaker government and parties cannot demand explanations in Madrid’s parliament.

Munté believes that the "persecution" of Forcadell and the rest of the parliament's Bureau is yet another example of the Spanish government's strategy of using the courts instead of employing politics. She stressed that they should abandon this strategy and initiate a dialogue to deal with Catalonia’s pro-independence process.

Asked whether JxSí members of the Executive Committee should file the statements demanded by the TC or should consider it a de-legitimized court, Munté said that this is for the Parliamentary group to decide and that the government will stand by their decision "100%".