It is a full stop that can be a full stop. Time and court decisions will tell. Laura Borràs was provisionally suspended yesterday as deputy and president of the Parliament of Catalonia due to her procedural situation. By virtue of the provisions of the Chamber’s regulations, the Junts leader has had her rights, duties and functions temporarily suspended, for all purposes, after the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) dictate an order to put her on the defendant’s bench to try her for the alleged crimes of prevarication and false documentation.
The Table, without Borràs present, given the evident conflict of interest, applied the provisions of article 25.4, which deprives deputies of rights and duties if they are brought to trial for crimes related to corruption, as it is, in this case , that of prevarication. Even so, she does not lose the act of deputy, although she will not be able to collect.
The representatives of Esquerra, PSC and CUP in the governing body of the institution voted in favor of the measure and now the Republican Alba Vergés, former Minister of Health, will assume the functions that Borràs had on an interim basis, as long as there is no replacement at the head of the institution or an agreement between the partners of the Govern, which in no case is expected before the return of the holidays.
Yesterday, Borràs made a final institutional appearance in the Parlament audience office –allowed by the other groups, although he had already run out of functions and rights– in which he charged very hard against the other formations, and called the members of the Table that had applied the 25.4 “hypocritical judges” and “accomplices executors” of the “dirty war”. He also accused them of being “in sync” with justice. “With names and surnames” -an expression that felt especially bad in the other groups-, pointed out the pro-independence leader, who will not make an explicit resignation from her position, even though she cannot perform any of the functions that are her own. Therefore, she will not allow an adequate replacement for the second institution of Catalonia.
However, the situation experienced yesterday, described as unpleasant by various actors, does not affect the stability of the Government of Pere Aragonès for now, although some figures such as the former president of the Generalitat Quim Torra, who is not a member of Junts, or the secretary of organization of JxCat, David Torrents, without being explicit, demanded yesterday that there be immediate consequences.
For sample, a button. A few hours before the suspension, several ministers of the Executive who supported Borràs at noon in the meeting with the Junts parliamentary group and the party executive had been in an act with the president, with complete normality. A situation that in other circumstances might not have occurred. But in JxCat the possibility of leaving the coalition is not contemplated and from ERC they assure that nobody has raised it in the periodic coordination appointments between partners.
In the Parliament, however, there are still several fringes to close and the services of the Chamber will have to clarify what happens, for example, with the personnel attached to the presidency, and what is the scope of the suspension in each area. However, the institution ends the session tomorrow and all this may take a few weeks.
Yesterday the waters were rough, especially after Borràs’s speech, in which he assured that “he does not resign, he does not bend” and that “they have not won”; and that he “forced” an interim period in the face of what he considers an “anomaly.” Still, Republicans are confident that those troubled waters will calm down and things will get back on track in the fall. For this reason, its spokesperson, Marta Vilalta, reiterated to her partners that they do not intend to keep the functions of the president of the Parliament, and that they await a proposal to comply with the distribution of power in the Catalan institutions that they signed last year in their pact of legislature.
In JxCat there are those who believe that after the holidays these scenarios can be addressed, as there were also those in favor of Borràs, as all the groups in the Chamber asked him except his own, to take a step back. But the official position, once again, is different.
The general secretary, Jordi Turull, once again closed ranks with its president and pointed out that “they share the decision not to resign from their position”, and for this reason they will not propose any person to replace her. “The problem has been created by them, let them solve it,” said a party leader in the corridors along these lines.
In recent weeks, various names had been announced for the replacement, such as that of Anna Erra, vice president of the formation – she obtained more votes than the president in the Junts congress – and mayor of Vic who ends her term in 2023, that of Marta Madrenas , mayor of Girona who will not repeat next year as a candidate in her city, or that of Aurora Madaula, member of the Bureau and vice president of the party, supported by Borràs.
Vilalta, in a later appearance, stressed that in his project “there is no room for corruption.” “Each millimeter of tolerance with suspicions of corruption weakens us as a group. With each step of permissiveness with the accusations of malpractice, the country’s institutions are discredited,” remarked the deputy, who regretted that the focus is on “the noise, the spectacle, the discord and the confrontations.” “We don’t like days like today,” she asserted. In the afternoon, Aragonès, who did not go to Parliament, finished off the job and said that “it is not acceptable” to mix a trial for corruption with the fight for independence.
The CUP, in a similar sense, separated the Borràs situation from political causes and highlighted that this case is related to the administration of public resources. “The best response in a context of selective repression is transparency, exemplary and referential. What is judged is not of a political nature”, settled Carles Riera.
At the gates of the Parlament there was a rally called by the support group for Borràs and JxCat that brought together more than 200 people who whistled and booed the members of ERC and CUP and cheered those of Junts. Borràs came out to greet them before and after the meeting of the Table. But the mobilization punctured.
