Spain's Central Electoral Commission (JEC, in its Spanish acronym) has called, for this Thursday at noon, a meeting at which it will address the situation of the suspended speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Laura Borràs, now that the High Court of Catalonia (TSJC) has sentenced her to four and a half years in prison and a 13-year ban on holding office, for crimes of document falsification and administrative fraud. Although there is a high probability that she will be automatically suspended as a parliamentarian, following the precedent of president Quim Torra's case, it could also be the case that the JEC decides to transfer the final resolution to the Provincial Electoral Commission, a mere formalism that would only delay the decision for 48 working hours, so that the resolution would be adopted on Monday.
Whether this Thursday or next Monday, the case is in its final stretch and Parliament must prepare for the exceptional situation of appointing the person who will occupy the second most important institution in Catalonia in the middle of the legislature. Since 1980, when the first legislature began, with the position being held by ERC's Heribert Barrera, all the speakers of the chamber - and with Laura Borràs, they add up to ten - have been able to complete their mandate and in the case of Joaquim Xicoy, Ernest Benach and Núria de Gispert were there for two legislatures. Although in recent months each of the three most important parties - the PSC, ERC and Junts - has tried to take advantage of the judicial situation generated, with Socialists and Republicans highlighting the corruption accusations and Junts talking about a case of lawfare, for some time now the three have already slipped into future mode to limit as much as possible the interim period once there is a pronouncement from the electoral body.
The fact that the three parties do not wish to perpetuate the issue is, however, no guarantee that there will be an immediate agreement. The first gesture from Junts that will not be one of blockage to the substitution of Borràs is for the next on the list for Barcelona, the member of Demòcrates, Toni Castellà, a governance member of the Council of the Republic, to accept the seat in place of the suspended speaker, who, in a few days, will be a dismissed speaker. Although no party is set to renounce the vacant position of the speakership of the Parliament for different reasons - the PSC because it won the elections of February 14th, 2021, ERC because it is the largest pro-independence party in Parliament, and Junts because it held the position as a result of the agreement to invest president Aragonès, it would be strange if the position ended up going to anyone but Junts themselves.
The management of the party proposes the name of the mayor of Vic and parliamentarian Anna Erra, and there is nothing to indicate that there is anyone better placed to occupy the position. For one, there is the fact that she is not standing for re-election in the May municipal elections in the Osona county capital and, as well, she is always among the Junts leaders most supported in party congresses. However, the party maintains total silence in order not to appear in the middle of a negotiation when Borràs is still demanding her reinstatement to the position, ignoring what the TSJC has decreed. But everyone knows that the institutional part of the Borràs file is to be closed very soon, and after the municipal elections it will remain to be seen what happens with the presidency of the party and according to what timetable.