parliament’s president

The Spanish Government will urge the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) to allow it to claim criminal liability against the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, for having disobeyed the TC’s rulings. The current Spanish Cabinet, which met this Friday, also agreed to impede Forcadell from launching the pro-independence roadmap approved on Wednesday by the Parliament. In particular, the Spanish executive calls for the TC to “proceed to consider the witness of particulars in order to claim criminal liability against the Parliament’s President for disobeying the rulings of the TC, which all public servants are compelled to obey”. The petition also aims to expressly ban the Parliament’s President, the Parliament Bureau and the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, from promoting any initiative in relation to the pro-independence process. 

Pro-independence cross-party list 'Junts Pel Sí' MP Muriel Casals died this Sunday at the age of 70. Former president of civil society association Òmnium Cultural, Muriel was one of the greatest exponents of the pro-independence movement in Catalonia. Recently, she was named president of the Study Committee for the Constitutive Process, responsible for setting the basis for Catalonia's roadmap towards independence. Together with Carme Forcadell, Parliament's President and former president of pro-independence grassroots organisation Catalan National Assembly, Muriel was responsible for the massive pro-independence rallies which have taken to the streets of Barcelona for the past six years. Casals had been in hospital since the 30^th of January, after being hit by a bicycle in Barcelona. She failed to recover from a traumatic brain injury.

Philip VI refused Parliament President Carme Forcadell’s request for an audience to communicate to him the investiture of the new Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont. The Royal Household asked Forcadell to do so in writing and thus broke with the tradition according to which the presidents of the Catalan, Basque and Galician Parliaments travel to Madrid to communicate to the monarch the decision of their respective chambers. Philip VI’s secretary asked for the investiture to be communicated “complying with the procedures established by the Spanish Constitution and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy”.  

The Swiss government representative in Spain Thomas Kolly met this Friday with the Parliament's President, Carme Forcadell, and declared that Catalonia's independence is "viable" if and when all the parties involved have political predisposition. Kolly highlighted the importance of "dialogue" between governments and emphasised that Switzerland's position regarding the administrative conflict with Spain's executive has always been "neutral". He insisted that Switzerland won’t mediate between Catalonia and Spain unless all the parts explicitly request it, which is the same answer given to the Swiss MPs from several parties whom asked their executive what would be Switzerland’s role regarding Catalonia’s push for independence. He admitted that the Swiss government and the Swiss companies operating in Catalonia call on those involved to keep "the predictability and the judicial security".

Employers’ association CECOT's president, Antoni Abad, warned of the economic "instability" that political "stagnation" may cause and expressed his "wish" for Catalonia to constitute a new government "as soon as possible". "We can't continue like this" he stated "98% of CECOT associates refuse the status quo". Abad made these statements this Wednesday at a meeting with Parliament's President, Carme Forcadell, whom in turn assured that she is "hopeful" regarding pro-independence forces 'Junts Pel Sí' and CUP’s negotiations. Abad also asked the government to "facilitate" growth of the Catalan business sector and improve its funding system. CECOT's president also confirmed to Forcadell that Catalonia's economy is recovering in terms of employment and internationalisation capability.

The Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, has convened the Spokesperson Bureau for this Tuesday, even though Catalonia’s People’s Party (PPC) haven’t yet constituted themselves as a parliamentary group. The aim is to respond to the appeals made by Catalan Socialist Party PSC and Anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans, which have urged reconsideration of the approval of the pro-independence forces agreed declaration on starting the independence process. The decision to convene the Spokesperson Bureau, and reactivate the debate on the proposal, arrived after PPC’s handed over of a writ of protection before the Spanish Constitutional Court. According to PPC’s leader, Xavier García Albiol, they took such an action to “avoid the celebration of the plenary session”to debate the pro-independence proposal as “it is absolutely outside of the basic rules of democracy”.

The European Parliament's President, Martin Schulz "shares" the Catalan MEPs’ concerns "about the accuracy of the answers to written questions". Schulz was referring to the two different versions, one in Spanish and one in English, of the answer sent by the Commission to PP MEP Santiago Fisas on Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence. "I can assure you that I take this issue very seriously" he stated in a letter sent to the Catalan MEPs on Friday. Schulz assured that he is "fully aware of the sensitivity of this particular issue, especially in the period before the regional elections in Catalonia on 27 September". The Euro Parliament President also assured that the "Parliament's services asked the Commission's competent services to clarify the situation as a matter of urgency" and added that he welcomes the decision to investigate the scandal. "I look forward to being informed of its conclusions" he concluded.