Despite having been stripped of the presidency of the Parliament and the act of deputy, the case of Laura Borràs is still pending, this time for the prerogatives that correspond to her after her termination. Parliament debated yesterday on the remunerations and lifetime pensions entailed by his passage through the parliamentary institution, set by law, and which would allow him to receive part of his salary for two years and a lifetime allocation from the age of 65.
The Catalan Chamber ended up processing, thanks to ERC, a proposal for a law by En Comú Podem that demands that the presidents of the Parliament and of the Generalitat who are convicted of corruption be left without these remunerations. And the debate showed the loneliness of Junts, the party chaired by Borràs, the only one that defended the maintenance of these prerogatives.
The Parliament had on the table the proposed law of the PSC, Citizens and the Commons. Neither of the first two went ahead because ERC voted in favor in both cases of the amendments in their entirety presented by Junts, opposed to modifying the current regulations. On the other hand, the republicans abstained in that of the commons.
Jéssica Albiach’s proposal aims to modify the 2003 law on the statute of the presidents of the Generalitat, a rule that includes the rights and prerogatives of the first Catalan authority – office, assignment and lifetime pension. Regarding this rule, they propose that it be revoked “automatically” when the head of the Government or the president of the Parliament is convicted in a final sentence for a crime related to corruption. The aim is, therefore, to prevent Borràs or any president of the Parliament or the Generalitat from receiving public resources if he is convicted of “personal or third-party profit, embezzlement, falsification of documents, influence peddling or illegal financing of parties “.
Borràs has not requested the benefit to which she would be entitled after her dismissal, which would correspond to 60% of the more than 150,000 euros she received as president of the chamber, meaning that under the current law she could receive it if she requests it and it is confirmed that she has held the position for at least two years – a requirement that it is not clear that she fulfills, since she has been suspended for part of this period. In addition, in the case of Borràs there is no final judgment because his appeal before the Supreme Court is pending.
In any case, the proposed law of the commons saved thanks to ERC will be debated in a paper from now on.
The republicans justified the processing of the law of the commons because they are in favor of “protecting the institutions against cases of corruption” and they are betting on “having a deep debate”. Together, on the other hand, he criticized the “opportunism” of a reform proposal made “ad hoc”, and defended these prerogatives to “prestige” the main Catalan authorities and prevent them from ending up “begging” or asking for a non-contributory pension .
