Parliament rejects motion to dismiss speaker

The Catalan Parliament rejected on Wednesday a resolution to dismiss the chamber speaker Roger Torrent. The text, put forward by unionist Ciutadans (C's), the largest party in the chamber, only got support from the Catalan branch of Spain’s ruling People’s Party (PP).

The resolution was rejected by the rest of the political forces in the chamber, including pro-independence parties—JxCat, ERC, and CUP—, as well as the Socialists (PSC) and Catalunya-En Comú Podem (CatECP), which are against the forming of a Catalan republic.

C's leader Inés Arrimadas accused Torrent of acting as a "spokesman" for pro-independence forces. "Roger Torrent is systematically acting arbitrarily in a biased way in favor of pro-independence forces and is lacking in institutional neutrality," read the motion, which was refused.

Torrent, a member of left-wing ERC, was appointed as parliament speaker last January following an agreement by pro-independence parties. In an unusual speech after the deposed president Carles Puigdemont was detained in Germany on Sunday, Torrent called for “calm” and “unity,” and stressed the need to create a “common front” to defend “rights and freedoms” in Catalonia.

The parliament speaker is currently the highest office in Catalonia, as all attempts to appoint a new head of government by pro-independence parties have been blocked by Spanish courts.

The spokeswoman of the Socialist party in Catalonia, Eva Granados, lamented the "useless" resolution, saying that C's only promotes "sterile criticisms" without offering "solutions." "What would you do if the independence process finished? In Madrid we already know that you support the People's Party," she added.

Gerard Gómez del Moral, an MP from pro-independence Esquerra Republicana (ERC), regretted C's "lack of humanity" and solidarity with elected MPs which are now imprisoned or in exile. It was precisely an institutional speech against "repression" that urged a "unitary" response from political parties after the imprisonment of Catalan leaders that prompted C's calls to sack Torrent. "It's enough, don't laugh at others suffering. Stop making jokes about others suffering. You are irresponsible," said Gómez del Moral.