MADRID – Spain’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld a ruling barring the separatist leader of Catalonia from public office, a decision that could renew tensions in the resisting northeastern region.
Prior to the ruling, officials from the Catalan Talan police force had issued a high-level warning for possible protests, confirming the December ruling against the head of the regional government of Catalonia, Quim Tora, as well as the separatist leader. .
Catalan Tala’s politics have once again been in turmoil since Monday’s ruling. Mr Tora is expected to be replaced by his deputy, Pere Aragon. Which represents a different separatist party. Mr Torra had planned to hold early elections this year to support the separatist movement, but the plan was delayed by a coronavirus epidemic that particularly hit Spain hard.
Mr. Tora’s case is part of a long series of battles fought against pro-independence Kia Talan leaders against the Spanish central government and its judiciary. Politicians have failed to reconcile separatist development over the years, and it is increasingly left to the judges to continue to divide Katla society in the middle.
On Monday evening, Mr Tora said Catalonia would hold elections “in the next few months”, and called on his supporters to turn the vote into an issue of independence. The Spanish government urged the region to hold another election as soon as possible to avoid a period of political length in Catalonia under the executive administration.
Mr Tora also hinted that he would appeal the decision to the European Court of Justice by the Spanish Supreme Court. A European court, Mr Tora said, “is the only place where the pro-independence activists of Catalan Talan, as well as the just and legitimate cause of independence, can get justice.”
The case against Mr Torra focuses on his refusal to give down yellow horses and other signs of solidarity with the separatist movement, in defiance of an order from the Election Commission in Madrid. The commission instructed that all partisan symbols should be removed from public buildings during the political campaign leading up to the Spanish elections in April 2019.
The bridle became a way to show support for separatist leaders, Who was later convicted in 2019 of a failed attempt to declare independence two years earlier.
Mr Tora has repeatedly condemned the withdrawal of pro-independence symbols, and a Barcelona court ruled in December that refusing to remove them was tantamount to civil disobedience. Motivating Mr. Tor Rana to appeal to the Supreme Court, prevented him from holding office for 18 months.
On Monday, many Spanish politicians welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision against him. “Justice has been done,” said Ins Arimadas, leader of the Ciudadonos party.
“Public spaces belong to everyone and a political leader cannot violate the laws if they are flooded with separatist propaganda,” Ms. Arimadas wrote on Twitter.
The separatist majority, which controls the regional parliament, elected Mr Torra as leader of Catalonia in 2018. The former office fee holder, Carles Puigdemont, was expelled by the Spanish government in October 2017 for an illegal attempt to secede and then left the country to avoid arrest and prosecution.
Since then, Mr. Puigdemont has been fighting efforts to extradite him from Belgium to be tried for his part in the failed independence effort. Despite falling to one side abroad, he continued to influence Catalan politics, as well as winning a seat in the European Parliament last year.
