Date Published: 20/12/2019
ARCHIVED - Formation of Spanish government in doubt as Catalan separatists hope for release of jailed leader
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The ERC party suspends negotiations with the PSOE following a European Court of Justice ruling
The European Court of Justice’s ruling which was issued on Thursday, stating that Catalan separatist leader Oriol Junqueras should have been granted immunity before being sentenced to 13 years in jail on account of his having been elected as a member of the European parliament, appears to have provided yet another obstacle to the formation of a new Spanish government, something which now appears even more likely to be achieved before the end of the year.
Sr Junqueras was being held in prison prior to his trial and sentencing for his part in the events of October 2017, which began with the partial holding of an outlawed independence referendum in Catalunya and ended with a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain in the regional parliament, and when he and eight others received long jail terms in October of this year the verdicts sparked a series of violent and disruptive protests. In the meantime, following the general election in November the ERC party of which he is leader has become a crucial element in the attempts to form a coalition government led by the PSOE and Unidas Podemos parties, with their abstention in any investiture debate holding the key to that government being possible.
Prior to the ECJ ruling this week there was optimism that an agreement with the ERC could be reached in the near future, but now the situation has altered drastically. The ruling states that Oriol Junqueras should have been allowed to leave prison in order to take up his seat in the European parliament, and now the ERC have announced that all talks with the PSOE have been suspended until the State legal authorities have decided to respond and what the PSOE’s attitude towards that decision is.
Meanwhile, the right-wing opposition parties PP, Ciudadanos and Vox have reiterated their demands that Sr Junqueras should serve his sentence in full, and the lawyers of the State have been given five days to decide what course of action should be followed.
In addition, Carles Puigdemont, the president of the regional government in Catalunya during the events of 2017, and his former colleague Toni Comín are also now allowed to form part of the European parliament building following the lifting of a ban which had been placed on them when international arrest warrants were issued for them, due to their right to immunity also being recognized. Both men have been in self-imposed exile since shortly after the Spanish government imposed direct rule in Catalunya on 27th October 2017 and have thus avoided trial.
Image: Pedro Sánchez
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