The exiled Catalan minister and number two for JxCat in the European elections in May, Toni Comín, has today warned what could happen to Spain if it rejects the candidature in those same elections of president Carles Puigdemont. According to Comín, Spain could suffer the embarrassment of having to repeat the European elections, a fate that Comín says he would like to "save Spain from" - "and that's not being ironic". "We wouldn't want its reputation in the eyes of the rest of the EU states to continue in free fall," he said in a tweet.
Més que res, perquè res ens agradaria tant com estalviar-li al Regne d'Espanya la vergonya d'haver de repetir les eleccions europees. No voldríem que la seva reputació davant de la resta d'estats de la UE seguís en caiguda lliure... I no és ironia.
— Toni Comín (@toni_comin) 27 d’abril de 2019
The candidate published the tweet after Puigdemont had presented documentation to Spain's Central Electoral Commission (JEC) to response to the bid by Spanish right-wing parties Cs and PP to veto his candidacy for the European elections. The JxCat allegation says that the claims made by PP and C have no valid legal basis and should be dismissed. They argue that Puigdemont, as well as Toni Comín and exiled Catalan education minister Clara Ponsatí have the right to active and passive suffrage and that denying it would be a violation of European law and international treaties ratified by Spain.
Meanwhile, a reference to this question was also made by Carles Puigdemont's lawyer Gonzalo Boye, in his usual mysterious tone. "I'm going to buy popcorn," Boye said, suggesting that if the JEC upholds the Cs and PP veto, the case will be appealed to European authorities.
Voy a por 🍿🍿🍿:
— Gonzalo Boye (@boye_g) 27 d’abril de 2019
JxCat es defensa davant la JEC del recurs de Cs i PP contra Puigdemont via @elnacionalcat https://t.co/gtsKb8xuFV
"No-one should be mistaken... we never improvise," added the lawyer, giving more clues.
Que nadie se confunda... nosotros nunca improvisamos:
— Gonzalo Boye (@boye_g) 27 d’abril de 2019
Puigdemont sostiene que PP y Cs piden excluirlo de las listas a las europeas por "odio" https://t.co/FczoMFDFXe vía @eldiarioes
The JxCat documentation notes several precedents in the European Court of Human Rights' jurisprudence relating to the case of Ukraine, condemned for arbitrarily excluding a politician outside the country from parliamentary elections.