Esquerra asks Borràs to resign for the alleged case of embezzlement

The president of the Parliament, Laura Borrás, and the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, last Wednesday at the Parliament of Catalonia, in Barcelona. Quique Garcia (EFE)

The judicial accountant on the cause of the division of contracts in the Institució de les Lletres Catalanes not only runs for Laura Borràs, president of the Parliament, but also for Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya.

The regulations of the autonomous Chamber establish that, once an oral trial is opened for a crime related to corruption, the Board must withdraw the affected person's rights as a deputy.

The big question is what the Republicans, who have always been cautious about the issue, will do.

The former president of the Catalan parliament, Carme Forcadell, one of the great references within the ERC, went a step further this Thursday and pointed out quite clearly that Borràs should resign, asking him not only to think about his personal situation but also about the Parliament.

"In this case, she should not think about herself, but about the prestige of the institution," Forcadell replied in an interview with the program

on SER Catalunya, when asked if Borràs should resign.

The former president of the Parliament, convicted in the

trial and later pardoned by the Government, accepted that her successor is "in a very complicated situation", but insisted that there cannot be a shadow of doubt about "the honesty" of the independence movement.

Forcadell, at all times, was careful to link the case of the president of the Parliament - whom the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) prosecuted this week for various crimes related to corruption - and the "repressive" maneuvers against independence that secessionists constantly denounce.

An idea that goes in the opposite direction of what Borràs and his party defend, Junts.

The spokesman for the formation, Josep Rius, closed ranks this Thursday arguing that the case of the leader of the formation is "once again under the repressive sword of the State."

The former president of the Generalitat, Quim Torra, also came out to defend it this Thursday.

“It seems that only the political consequences of the Borràs trial mattered;

I care more that his honor is attacked, ”he wrote on Twitter.

And the former deputy Lluís Llach did the same: "I say from now on that I am on Borràs' side, whatever they accuse her of and prove it with the tricks that prove it."

There are still weeks to go, quite possibly after the summer, when judicially the moment will be reached in which the Table of the Parlament will have to decide on the future of Borràs.

Article 25.4 of the regulation establishes that when there is an accusation against deputies "for crimes related to corruption", the Table "must agree to the suspension of parliamentary rights and duties" once the order to open an oral trial is communicated.

The defense of the president of Junts could appeal the indictment of the TSJC (it would be the second time) and that would allow her to gain a few days, but little more.

Now the Prosecutor's Office has 10 days to present its indictment (given the case, the crimes and the sentence requested for it would be known) and after that, the Catalan high court has to issue the order to open an oral trial, something for which there is no fixed time limit.

At ERC, the debate about what to do at that point is open and there are various sensitivities.

Dropping it would undoubtedly be the most critical moment of the legislature and could bring down the Government.

From the outset, the Republicans believe that any open fight with other pro-independence formations penalizes them and that it will be very difficult to make it abundantly clear that Borràs is allowed to fall for a case of chopping up public contracts and not because of the internal struggle of secessionism.

Hence the interest in establishing a story that separates the repression from the cause of embezzlement.

That same article establishes that if doubts arise about the type of crime or about the regime of incompatibilities applicable throughout the suspension "the opinion of the Commission of the Statute of Deputies is necessary".

At ERC they know that it is a matter of time before two deputies from their ranks (Lluís Salvador and the group's president, Josep María Jové) also have to go through the same situation as Borràs.

The two Republicans are also close to an oral trial, since they are accused of embezzling public money in the organization of the referendum when they both held key positions in the economic Vice Presidency led by Oriol Junqueras.

They were processed by the TJSC on April 26 of last year.

For justice, these two cases, like that of Borràs, are typified among other crimes as embezzlement.

However, within the framework of the independence movement, Juvé and Salvador acted correctly by fulfilling the "political mandate" to hold the referendum.

ERC would then have to justify its position in each of the scenarios.

Or, in the best of scenarios for Junts, that the judicial and parliamentary time coincide and having to vote on the three cases at the same time.

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