Crucial week begins for Catalan presidency in parliament  

Josep Rull, the speaker of the Catalan parliament, will hold talks on Tuesday with all the parties ahead of the presidential investiture debate for the Socialist candidate Salvador Illa. 

Illa is expected to have enough support from lawmakers in the chamber after striking deals with pro-independence Esquerra Republicana, a deal endorsed by party members, as well as with left-wing Comuns Sumar. 

The investiture debate and the voting for the candidate could take place on Thursday. 

Initially it was up in the air over how Esquerra youth representative, MP Mar Besses, would vote, as her parliamentary vote in any investiture debate would be decided by an internal consultation among members of the party’s youth branch. In the end, young ERC members ratified the deal on Monday evening. 

In that case, Illa would not be elected with an absolute majority (at least 68 MPs voting in favor). Two days later, another investiture debate would take place where the Socialist would need a simple majority (more yes votes than no). However, this would only be possible with the abstention of another MP from another party.

Puigdemont's possible return to Catalonia 

It is not yet known how former president Carles Puigdemont's expected return to Catalonia would affect the debate on Thursday. 

During the election campaign and the following months, Puigdemont stated repeatedly that he would attend the investiture debate in person, despite the fact that he could get arrested.  

Parliament speaker Rull has expressed on various occasions that if Carles Puigdemont makes it inside of the Parliament, he would defend the inviolability of the chamber and regulate police access to the building.  

There has been speculation that if Puigdemont returns and is arrested, the investiture debate could be suspended by Josep Rull.  

Regarding the possible arrest, Marta Rovira, Esquerra's secretary general, said that in this scenario "the leadership of the party will have to meet and make a decision" about withdrawing Esquerra's support for the Socialists.  

Jéssica Albiach, the leader of Comuns Sumar in Catalonia, has also expressed that if Puigdemont is arrested they are in favor of postponing the debate "a few days or a week." 

Why would Puigdemont be arrested? 

On June 11, the amnesty law was published in Spain's Official Gazette (BOE) officially coming into effect.  

Since then, more than 80 people have benefited from it, but not Carles Puigdemont.  

The law granted amnesty for the crime of disobedience for which the independence leaders were convicted, but Spain's Supreme Court ruled that the crime of misuse of public funds is not included in the amnesty law for the Catalan pro-independence movement. 

As a result, arrest warrants are still in force for former president Carles Puigdemont, along with other exiled pro-independence leaders Toni Comín and Lluis Puig. 

In addition, Carles Puigdemont is also investigated for the alleged Russian plot to support Catalan independence, the Volhov case. The judge in this case refused to grant amnesty to Puigdemont.