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A leaked WhatsApp message has sparked a wave of criticism online over the status of the separation of powers in Spain and the quality of its democracy.

Last week, PP and PSOE reached an agreement over the new members and chair of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) and the Supreme Court. Today, a WhatsApp message was reported by El Español, sent by PP's spokesperson in the Senate, Ignacio Cosidó, over the weekend, boasting of it as a "stupendous move".

Quoted tweet from lawyer Gonzalo Boye: These messages reveal, among other things, that: 1. They've got a goal past Pedro Sánchez, 2. The CGPJ and the Supreme Court respond to political interests, and 3. Marchena is PP's man for the control of the Supreme Court and the justice system.

Comment from president in exile Carles Puigdemont: The typical things which define an "exemplary democracy".

Speaker of the Catalan Parliament Roger Torrent: When they call on the separation of powers to say they cannot end with the repression are they referring to that?

Deputy Catalan president Pere Aragonès: The PP's spokesperson in the Senate boasts about controling the court which will try those charged over the 1st October [referendum]: "We'll control the Second Chamber from behind the scenes". It puts words to what we already knew: that the separation of powers in Spain is a mirage.

Senator Jon Inarritu (EH Bildu): Judicial independence and separation of powers... "We'll control the Second Chamber from behind the scenes": Cosidó's WhatsApp justifying the pact  with PSOE for the CGPJ.

Deputy president of Òmnium Cultural, Marcel Mauri: Comments which demonstrate judicial independence, the separation of powers, the impartiality of justice and such...

Lawyer Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas: Scandalous! Controlling the courts for your own benefit isn't appropriate for a democratic regime.

Law professor Joan Queralt: That's how you construct an independent justice system free of partisan interference. Yet another example of the Arcadia of Chutzpah.

Minister in exile Meritxell Serret.

Cs' leader Albert Rivera: "We'll control the Second Chamber from behind the scenes". That's how the PP's spokesperson defends the shameful pact reached with PSOE-Podemos to share out the judges. Impertinently bragging about their meddling and the Sánchez-Casado pincer against an independent.