The provisional situation in which the Parliament of Catalonia has found itself since President Laura Borràs was suspended from her posts on July 28 is on track for prolongation as her Junts party refuses to appoint a person who she replaced. The remaining parties are increasingly deploring the situation created by the decision to remove the President if she is prosecuted for corruption-related crimes. And they are calling for movements so that parliament as an institution is not damaged. Salvador Illa, first secretary of the PSC, stated this morning that the chamber could no longer remain in a makeshift situation and urged Esquerra to resolve the current institutional paralysis. The leader, also of the opposition, recalled that President Pere Aragonès (ERC) himself said this weekend that a “long transitional period” at the top of the institution was not good and called on Junts to replace Laura Borràs, who runs the presidency was suspended after oral proceedings were opened on corruption offences. “There are mechanisms and there are ways to do this,” said Illa, adding that the presidency must be exercised “to the fullest”.
The socialist explained, without going into detail, that the presidencies are elected by majorities, pointing out that there are “mechanisms” for taking over that “he cannot foresee”. “This needs to be fixed as soon as possible. If President Aragonès defends him, that’s not a problem,” he stressed. The point is that the investiture pact between Esquerra and junts stipulates that the presidency of the government will go to the Republicans and that of the House to the junts. The ERC, through the mouth of its Vice-President, Laura Vilagrà, has recalled that it always fulfills its agreements. The Chamber’s regulations state that the candidates are elected by absolute majority and would therefore require the ERC competition. The Republicans already gave the deciding factor at the time of the suspension. And the point is that in this case, executive continuity can enter a risk zone.
I don’t want to nudge or destabilize. What I am asking is that they unlock it,” the opposition leader affirmed
In statements to Catalunya Ràdio, Illa has made it clear that she is not asking Esquerra to present Borràs with an alternative candidate. “I don’t want to deepen or destabilize (in the confrontation between the partners), what I ask is that they unblock,” he explained, specifying that it is an issue that affects all groups. “It cannot be that an institution is dependent on a pact.”
The PSC, Illa said, wants to clarify the provisional nature of the chamber in the first half of September before the general policy debate scheduled for later in the month. “We don’t want it (the presidency) for ourselves,” Illa insisted. On the 6th, the Bureau of Parliament will consider Junts’ request for a reconsideration to lift Borràs’ suspension. Jordi Turull, secretary general of Junts, warned Aragonès that the best way to end the provisional status is to reverse the temporary status created by the ERC, PSC and CUP when they removed the president from office.
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