THE political hot potato of whether or not the imprisoned Catalan MPs should be suspended after taking up their seats on Tuesday was tossed about again yesterday, with the intervention of the new Speaker of the Spanish Parliament.
Political opponents of MPs Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Sanchez, Josep Rull, Jordi Turull and Senator Raul Romeva – who are on trial for their role in the 2017 independence referendum – have called for them to be suspended following their swearing in as parliamentarians.
The Supreme Court laid the onus on Congress, the lower house, in an apparent attempt to avoid the judiciary being further accused of violating their rights. Spain’s prosecutor general’s office asked the court to suspend them “immediately, once their rights of political participation” were consolidated.
Meritxell Batet, a Catalan Socialist and the Speaker in Congress, became involved yesterday, writing to Carlos Lesmes, president of the Supreme Court, asking if the five should be suspended.
European and municipal elections, along with polls for autonomous regions, will be held on Sunday, and it is not clear if the five will be suspended before then.
In a radio interview with SER, Batet said the regulations were clear enough, but added: “If necessary, we will ask for a report to Congressmen. It is best to respect the time it takes for the bureau to meet.”
In another radio interview, Jordi Pina, who represents Turull, Rull and Sanchez, said: “All these circumstances when applying articles or leaving them to apply are an example of what political rights are being violated.”
Andreu Van den Eyne, who represents Junqueras and Romeva, said Batet and the court would again pass the ball. He called the suspension a “hypothetical” interpretation not held by the law, and added: “What we are going to do is probably face a decision, whether Congress or the Supreme Court, we have to resort to.”
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