Electoral Authority declares Clara Ponsatí’s MEP seat 'temporarily vacant'

The Electoral Authority (JEC) has announced that Clara Ponsatí’s seat in the European Parliament is "temporarily vacant" after she failed to appear on Thursday morning to take the constitutional oath. 

Despite the declaration from the electoral board, it is likely that Ponsatí will still be able to take her seat in the European parliament, even without completing the formal process. 

The JEC made similar demands to other exiled Catalan MEPs, Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín, but in the end the EU court rejected not taking the oath as a reason to exclude them from the parliament.

Ponsatí is currently in exile in Scotland where she is awaiting an extradition trial, and is due to become an MEP when the UK leaves the EU on Friday, as five of its seats pass to Spain.