Jailed Vice President proposes combining a “symbolic” and executive presidency

The deposed Catalan vice president, Oriol Junqueras, who has spent the past three months in jail, proposed combining a symbolic and an effective presidency for the country. The pro-independence bloc is facing Madrid’s opposition to swear in Carles Puigdemont as leader although the majority of the Parliament has agreed to do so. The plenary session to swear him in has been delayed while the Spanish Constitutional Court takes a final decision on the legality of his bid.

But as Puigdemont is unlikely to get the judges’ approval, Junqueras proposes swearing in an executive president, that is, someone who is accepted by Madrid. But, in an interview to a Spanish digital newspaper, he said that this could be combined with a “legitimate, even though symbolic” president. This could be Puigdemont’s spot, as the pro-independence bloc considers him as the legitimate Catalan president despite being removed by the Spanish government three months ago.