Parliament to dismiss Director of Catalonia’s Anti-fraud Office amid conspiracy scandal

Barcelona (CNA).- President of the Catalan Chamber, Carme Forcadell, announced this Wednesday that the Parliament’s Board has started the necessary procedures to dismiss the Director of Catalonia’s Anti-fraud Office Daniel De Alfonso, after it became clear that he was involved in a smear scandal against pro-independence parties liberal Convergència and left-wing ERC. He will also be called this Thursday to give explanations before the Parliament’s Commission for Institutional Affairs and may be definitively dismissed by next week. According to a series of recordings published on Tuesday by Spanish newspaper ‘Público’, De Alonso and current Spanish Minister for Home Affairs, People’s Party’s Jorge Fernández Díaz, allegedly plotted to find information to discredit political rivals in Catalonia in 2014. Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont lamented the “dirty war” against Catalonia’s pro-independence process and assured that he feels both “sadness and rage”.

All the parties in the Chamber have backed the initiative except from the People’s Party (PP). According to the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, the decision of the Chamber proves its “effectiveness and commitment to be implacable against corruption”.

Puigdemont laments “dirty war”

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont lamented the “dirty war” against Catalonia’s pro-independence process and assured that he feels both “sadness and rage” following the revelation of the alleged conspiracy against CDC. “It is unacceptable from all points of view, this is one of the biggest scandal in the last years”, he stated. Puigdemont said that “all the involved parties” should give explanations in the Catalan Parliament in order to “take the necessary measures”. He also called for Rajoy to give explanations but doubted whether he has enough “democratic decency” to do so.  

Mas: A plot which proves the “Francoist origins” of the Spanish State

Former Catalan President, Artur Mas, also appeared before the press, together with the other former Catalan Ministers summonsed for organising Catalonia’s symbolic vote on the 9^th of November 2014. He urged prosecutors to close the file on the lawsuit against them and considered the recordings to be “very severe”. Mas assured those present that the Spanish government’s “police, judicial and media plots” prove the “Francoist origins” of the Spanish State.