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With the decision by the Bureau of the Catalan Parliament to accept for consideration a resolution from the parliamentary groups of Junts per Catalunya, Esquerra Republicana and CUP which reiterates the defence of Catalonia's right to self-determination and the censure of the Spanish monarchy, the Catalan chamber has taken a step, the first, leading inevitably to a crash with the Constitutional Court. Basically, because the members of the Bureau, starting with its presiding officer, Roger Torrent, have over them the shadow of a caution from the Constitutional Court urging them to not admit new debates in the Parliament on these two questions and warning them personally of the criminal liability they could incur.

In fact, this is, in some sense, the response which the three pro-independence parties were incapable of agreeing on last week during the appearance of the Catalan president, Quim Torra, in the plenary session to give a political response to the Supreme Court's verdicts against the political prisoners. There are various explanations as to why this should have been done a week late, some of which are closely related to the difficulties seen during the whole legislature to reach important agreements between the three pro-independence parties, but also with a general election like the one on 10th November when, for the first time, the three are all standing in a Spanish election. The important demonstrations of this last week on the one hand, but also the violence seen, have forced, certainly, the three parties to leave their comfort zone even at the risk of starting a conflict with the Constitutional Court in three weeks, when it will be seen in the plenary assembly.

Now starts a period of fifteen days for groups to submit amendments which will give a first view as to whether everything will stop at being a parliamentary exercise of a few hours or days or whether it will have the substance which has been attributed to the news from the moment it emerged. Both Junts per Catalunya and Esquerra explain that they would even have pushed it to be debated this very week in the Parliament, with the risks inherent in that, since it would have to be processed as an emergency measure. But CUP reportedly didn't want to appear too close to a government it blames for disproportionate police actions over these days and from which they want to distance themselves publicly as far as possible. Whether this is a true, exaggerated or biased version of events, what's certain is that the weeks pass very quickly and it will be seen in the plenary session of 12th and 13th November what the true will of the signatories is.

President Torra's robust rhetoric after the Bureau meeting, addressing the Constitutional Court and indicating that "today we say enough already", that "everything can be discussed in the Parliament" and that "if there are penal consequences I will accept them", is new in terms of the tone used. In fact, the Moncloa government palace in Madrid limited itself to sending a first alert in the form of a warning: it won't take action until the Catalan Parliament approves the bill. Pedro Sánchez has put off the crash. And three weeks, in politics is always an eternity. Much more so now.