Catalonia's Carles Puigdemont is to ask for judicial authorization to attend this Tuesday's Catalan parliamentary session for the investiture of a new president - a position for which he himself is the only candidate. The decision to seek authorization has been announced by minister and deputy Josep Rull and later confirmed by the JuntsxCat (Together for Catalonia) parliamentary group, following Saturday's Constitutional Court ruling that Puigdemont's physical presence in the chamber, with prior judicial approval, was necessary for his investiture as Catalan president.
JuntsxCat deputy Gemma Geis gave the additional detail that Puigdemont's request will be to attend the session of Parliament "with all guarantees", that is, with "the opportunity to defend his programme of government, to be invested as Catalan president, and under no circumstances to be arrested, since the crimes of which he is accused do not apply".
Speaking to Catalunya Radio on Sunday morning, Rull affirmed that the Constitutional Court ruling maintains the investiture session as valid, even though the Spanish government's intention was for Puigdemont not to be invested "by any method". According to Rull, the decision of the court is a "slap in the face" for Spanish deputy PM Soraya Sáenz de Santamaria. "They haven't been able to prevent the session even though they believe it will work out for them", he stated.
Asked if Puigdemont will attend the investiture session even if the judge does not grant him authorization, Rull did not want to elaborate. "There will be a full session, which Sáenz de Santamaría did not want. Under outrageous conditions, but there will be a session", was his only comment.
Rull reaffirmed that "now what has to be done is invest Puigdemont as president" and, therefore, the judicial authorization for his physical presence will be requested as the Constitutional Court requires. The JuntsxCat deputy affirmed that "the Catalan public's mandate will never be abandoned" and added that the politicians are not authorized to negotiate what the public has already voted for. "If we negotiate democracy, we have no viability as a nation", he insisted. Asked if he continues to adhere to the slogan 'Either Puigdemont or Puigdemont', Rull replied that what this really means is "Either democracy or democracy".
Slap in the face for Soraya
According to Rull, the Constitutional Court's credibility is "in further doubt" following its decision on Saturday and he considers that the court's resolution is a "slap in the face" for the Spanish vice president, who had announced the Spanish government's challenge against Puigdemont's candidature and the calling of the investiture session.
Finally, Rull declared that he would like to finish the work he began as Minister of Territory and Sustainability in the Catalan government and assured that his desire was to continue in this post with Puigdemont as president.
Rull's announcement came hours after the Constitutional Court had resolved that the celebration of the investiture session required the physical presence of the candidate, Carles Puigdemont, for which he in turn had to obtain advance "authorization from the judge" that issued the instruction for his arrest.
The court considered it "indispensable" for the candidate to be present "in person" in the Catalan chamber and also ruled out the possibility of delegating his vote from abroad. "The debate and the vote on the investiture of Carles Puigdemont as a candidate for president of Catalonia cannot take place via telematic means or through the substitution of another member of parliament", stated the court's resolution.