‘I will work to restore our institutions,’ says new Parliament president

Roger Torrent pledges to ‘contribute to dialogue’ in Catalan politics

Roger Torrent, being congratulated for his new post as Parliament president (by Elisenda Rosanas)
Roger Torrent, being congratulated for his new post as Parliament president (by Elisenda Rosanas) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

January 17, 2018 02:01 PM

The new Catalan Parliament president, Roger Torrent, pledged to contribute to relaunch the Catalan institutions suspended by the Spanish government last October, including the chamber. “I will work to fully restore all our institutions,” he said in a speech right after taking office. He also said that he would “contribute to understanding and dialogue in Catalan politics,” but asked all MPs to also collaborate towards this aim. 

“I will tirelessly work so that politics is at the centre of the debate once again in this term,” he asserted. What’s more, Torrent claimed that one of his goals is to “bring together this diverse Catalan society.” Others topics mentioned in his speech include coexistence, feminism, social justice and democratic principles. Torrent highlighted the need for all MPs to respect “the will of the people.”

After Torrent's speech, the opening session in the new Parliament finished with the Catalan national anthem, 'Els Segadors'. Afterwards, pro-independence MPs chanted: "Freedom, freedom!" in solidarity with the MPs in jail or in Brussels. 

Pro-independence majority in the chamber's bureau

The chamber elected this young pro-independence Esquerra Republicana MP as the leader of the institution this Wednesday. With 65 votes, he won over Ciutadans’ José María Espejo-Saavedra, with 56. Other votes to appoint the rest of the bureau members, after which the pro-independence parties kept the majority in the chamber's ruling body. 

 

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