Parliament speaker to start new round of talks

The incarcerated Catalan leader Jordi Sànchez is no longer the presidential candidate. That's what the Parliament speaker, Roger Torrent, announced on Wednesday. He also announced another round of talks with party leaders in order to look for a new presidential candidate.

This will be the third round of talks that the Parliament speaker will have held with the leaders of the parties in parliament since being appointed. The meetings are aimed at finding the candidate with the most support to be sworn in as a Catalan president. Neither of the two previous candidates nominated were able to take office after Spain's courts opposition. 

Court decision "won't go unpunished"

During his statement, Torrent said that Sànchez gave up his bid after Spain’s “intolerable meddling,” and warned that the courts’ opposition to the jailed leader’s candidacy “will not go unpunished.” He insisted that the parliament bureau is considering taking action against the Supreme Court after not allowing Sànchez to attend the chamber session.

“When a candidate is vetoed, not only are the MPs’ rights being violated, but the will of the citizens is, too,” he said while vowing to defend all MPs, including the ones in prison or abroad. According to him, the Spanish authorities “laminated its separation of powers” and provoked a “democratic regression.”