The main opposition party in Catalonia has lashed out this Monday harshly against the management of the Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena in the Mossos d’Esquadra body as a result of the sudden dismissal of the head of the body, Commissioner Josep Maria Estela. The PSC denounces some “political interference” in the body in its opinion “inadmissible” and demand the Minister to stop a “manipulation” that is detrimental to the image of the body.
The Socialists point directly to Elena of the umpteenth crisis in the Catalan police, whom they demand “responsibilities” and that she appear in Parliament to give explanations.
At a press conference after the meeting of the permanent socialist executive, the spokeswoman Elia Tortolero criticized the Government for its management in the police leadership, which has led to an internal rivalry between managers that has ended with the dismissal of Commissioner Estela after just nine months in office. “He is the fifth head of Mossos in five years”, which is the reflection of a “failure” and that, in his opinion, that the Government has a “very worrying tendency to politicize issues as important as security.
For the socialists “it is obvious that there is political interference” in the body through its leadership, which is why they demand that the Minister report to the parliamentary headquarters the reasons for the changes he is carrying out “He has to explain why of the changes and why they manipulate an issue as important as security in Catalonia”, claimed Tortolero.
Since the beginning of the legislature, the socialists have hoisted the flag of security and public order. The reason was the investiture agreement between ERC and the CUP, which included opening a commission in Parliament to review the current model of public order, the commitment to suspend the use of foam projectiles “until it is public” its protocol, and withdraw, in certain cases, private accusations against participants in demonstrations. At the same time, the PSC has emphasized security issues so as not to cede that space to Vox.
The PSC reserves the possibility of demanding the resignation of Minister Elena, but first they want to hear her version. Aware that the person in charge of the Interior can claim that one of his functions is to appoint or dismiss the chief of police, the Socialists recall that the discomfort in the body comes from afar and that “something is not going well” when the chief commissioner bets on reinforcing the General Criminal Investigation Police Station (CGIC), in charge of the most sensitive judicial investigations of the police organization, and the political leadership denies it.
The Socialists plan to take the crisis in the Catalan police to Parliament, in plenary session this week, where a motion with their seal denouncing the “existence of repeated attempts to politicize the Mossos d’Esquadra body, turning it into bargaining chip to achieve agreements of a partisan nature”.
Together with the PSC, En Comú Podem has also been critical of the situation in the Mossos. Spokesperson Joan Mena has also reported that her parliamentary group will ask Minister Elena for “explanations”, but has blamed the crisis on “the battles between ERC and Junts”, which “are affecting the leadership of the Mossos”.
The Catalan PP has also reacted to Estela’s replacement via Twitter. His spokesperson in Parliament, Lorena Roldán, has indicated that the Minister of the Interior “is more concerned with controlling the leadership of the Mossos than with monitoring the increase in crimes in Catalonia.” Thus, the popular have registered a request for Elena’s urgent appearance in the Interior Commission to account for “this new dismissal.”
