Torra says Electoral Board's decision to strip him of lawmaker credential is a coup against Catalan institutions

Record ID: 1451193

  • Title: Torra says Electoral Board's decision to strip him of lawmaker credential is a coup against Catalan institutions
  • Date: 3rd January 2020
  • Summary: BARCELONA, SPAIN (JANUARY 3, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTEST IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 17th January 2020 21:14
  • Keywords: Catalonia Quim Torra Spain Spanish electoral committee independence separatism torra
  • Location: BARCELONA, SPAIN
  • City: BARCELONA, SPAIN
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA007BUME5AF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Catalan regional leader Quim Torra accused Spain's Electoral Board on Friday (January 3) of launching a coup against Catalan institutions after it ordered that he be stripped of his regional lawmaker role, in a move that may complicate efforts to end a prolonged national political deadlock.
    Torra said the only body that could strip him of his credentials was the region's parliament and that he would remain a member of parliament and president of Catalonia until Catalonia's parliament decided otherwise.
    The board issued its ruling that Quim Torra lose his legislator's job on the eve of a possible turning point in the country's bid to re-establish stable government following its worst political furore in decades.
    On Saturday (January 4), parliament holds a vote in which Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez is relying on the abstention of Catalan separatists Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) -- a political ally of Torra -- to confirm him as Prime Minister.
    The ERC, which governs Catalonia as part of a coalition with Torra's Junts per Catalunya party, signalled discontent with the board's ruling, a sentiment that could cast a shadow over Sanchez's prospects of confirmation.
    The ERC called a meeting of its executive board for Saturday to evaluate the political consequences of the ruling on Torra, which follows Torra's sentencing by Catalonia's highest court to an 18-month ban from public office over his refusal to remove separatist symbols from government buildings during electoral periods.
    Torra has appealed against the court's ruling, meaning it could take months for the ban to come into force, if it is upheld.
    The board ordered the cancellation of Torra's regional lawmaker credentials but said this would not take effect until official notification by Barcelona's provincial electoral board.
    According to a statement by the Catalan government, the ban refers to Torra's position as a lawmaker in the region's parliament but not his role as head of the regional government.
    (Production: Jordi Rubio, Catherine Macdonald, Luis Felipe Fernandez)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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