ERC to follow 'same steps' in suspended speaker's case as when CUP MP was stripped of seat

Spokesperson for ERC, Marta Vilalta, has said that the party will follow "the same steps, no more and no less," that Laura Borràs took when the Electoral Board (JEC) stripped former CUP MP Pau Juvillà of his seat in the case that now affects suspended parliament speaker and Junts president Laura Borràs.

However, Vilalta warned that there would be "one difference" between the cases: "we will not give excuses to anyone or explain a version of the facts that is not true."

The Catalan High Court sentenced Laura Borràs to four and a half years in prison for corruption during her time as the head of the Catalan Institute of Letters (ILC). The suspended parliament speaker's sentence also disqualifies her from holding public office for 13 years and a fine of €36,000.

However, appeals are still ongoing, and therefore the sentence is not yet final. 

The Electoral Board then stripped Borràs of her parliamentary seat after it had given the Catalan chamber 10 days to determine her situation, but the parliament rejected ousting the pro-independence politician as speaker after the sentence.

Former far-left pro-independence CUP MP Pau Juvillà was stripped of his seat following the same procedure in January 2022, with the electoral board eventually ordering him to be removed from his post, as was the case with ex-Catalan president Quim Torra, of Borràs' party, Junts per Catalunya, in early 2020.