Parliament lawyers warn Puigdemont’s party: suspended MPs’ votes could be invalidated

Lawyers at the Catalan parliament have warned Junts per Catalunya (JxCat) that the votes of former president Carles Puigdemont and three other MPs could be invalidated in the plenary session to be held on Tuesday.

Puigdemont and his party colleagues were suspended from office by Spain’s Supreme Court. According to the chamber’s lawyers, their petition to vote by proxy is "not consistent" with an agreement by pro-independence parties to allow them being substituted.

The suspension of pro-independence MPs also affects two members of Esquerra (ERC), another major pro-independence party ruling Catalonia alongside JxCat. Unlike their government partners, Esquerra accepted substituting their MPs.

The difference of approaches between both parties led to a major row between them last week. The parliament plenary session was suspended and the stability of the executive was put into question.

The former Catalan president, currently exiled in Belgium, as well as his three fellow MPs, all in pre-trial jail, are prosecuted for organizing a referendum and declaring independence despite Spain’s opposition.