Catalonia: Spain's electoral commission removes regional leader Torra

The Spanish Election Commission (JEC) ordered the removal of Quim Torra, Catalan regional president, on Friday. The Barcelona High Court had already imposed an 18-month ban on the politician for disobedience on December 19, but Torra initially remained in office because the judgment was not yet final and Torra had not yet exhausted all legal options.

The reason for the conviction: The 57-year-old had refused to remove symbols of the Catalan independence movement from public buildings before the parliamentary elections on April 28, although the election commission had ordered this.

Dispute over a yellow bow

The electoral commission has now withdrawn his mandate from the regional parliament. He also has to give up his position as regional head. The JEC consists of, among other things, judges from the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo).

The dispute included a yellow ribbon attached to the government seat in Barcelona as a sign of solidarity with imprisoned separatist leaders. The JEC called for their removal in March because this political symbol represented only a portion of the population.

Torra has not yet commented on the decision of the election commission, but according to "El País" he wants to appeal. After the December ruling, he said that "only Catalonia's parliament" could remove him from office. He would not allow himself to be deposed by a "politically motivated court".

Junqueras is not allowed into the European Parliament

The election commission now also ruled that Catalan separatist leader Oriol Junqueras, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison for rioting, must not take up his mandate as MEP. In doing so, she contradicted a ruling by the European Court of Justice, which ruled in mid-December that MEPs' parliamentary immunity would take effect as soon as the election result was announced.

The former Vice Regional President was elected to the European Parliament in May despite his pre-trial detention at the time, but was then not allowed to leave prison to take the oath to the Spanish constitution.

The decisions could also have consequences for the incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, wrote the newspaper "El País" in the evening: After the new election of November 10, he wants to be elected head of government in the parliament of Madrid in the next few days - and had voted for it only on Thursday secured the abstention of the largest Catalan separatist party ERC, which should help him win in the second round. The ERC could now rethink its decision.