Search Share Prices
Catalonia is set to vote-in a new president on Thursday
Catalan president, Roger Torrent has called for a vote in the regional assembly on Thursday afternoon on whether to nominate Jordi Turull as their candidate to Catalonia's presidency, despite the imminent risk that he might be sentenced to jail on charges of secession.
Torrent announced overnight that a vote would take place on Thursday at 5pm, telling Catalunya Radio that the decision was perfectly normal and "has been done before. We are prepared to talk at any time and especially if it means moving forward."
Torrent said he wants to ensure the rights of all the members of parliament and in this case Jordi Turull's. And although there is a risk that the Supreme court might decide to send Turull to prison on Friday, "all his political rights are intact right now".
But in any case, Turull had reportedly not yet mustered sufficient parliamentary support in order guarantee his election as president, with most political parties expected to hold private meetings prior to the ballot to decide where they stood.
If finally elected, the last remaining hurdle would be to obtain the monarch's, King Philip the Sixth, signature, with Torrent on the record as saying he could not fathom why the King might refuse to sign in the new president chosen by the regional parliament.
Should he fail to garner sufficient ballots, Turull would become the third candidate to fail in his bid for the presidency of the Generalitat since regional elections were last held in March.
His immediate predecessor, Jordi Sánchez failed in his attempt after the Supreme Court in Madrid refused to allow him to leave prison while Carles Puigdemont, the original candidate, was stymied in his attempt by his condition as an exile in Brussels, which impeded him from being able to attend the prerequisite parliamentary session in person.