Whether by order of the Supreme Court or "by other mechanisms". Catalan presidency minister and spokesperson Meritxell Budó has said her government "is prepared and will be diligent" to transport imprisoned former vice-president Oriol Junqueras to Strasbourg to attend the European Parliament.
"We trust that the Supreme Court will comply with the sentence issued by the Court of Justice of the EU which makes it clear that Junqueras is an MEP and has to be released," she said. Emphasising it was an express order from president Quim Torra, she added that "otherwise, and if there's another mechanism which would allow Junqueras to be able to attend, this government is prepared and will be diligent to make it possible."
Despite repeated questions, Budó didn't specify what kind of mechanisms she was referring to, leaving the decision up to Junqueras' defence team.
On Monday, the Catalan government will send a delegation to Strasbourg, headed by Torra, for the plenary session where Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín will take their seats.
Dialogue with Madrid
The minister also discussed the status of contacts with Madrid. She said that there has been contact today and yesterday between Torra's office and that of Pedro Sánchez to work out details of the meeting they had agreed to hold once the latter was reinvested Spanish prime minister.
Besides the congratulations protocol requires are given to Sánchez, Budó said the objective is to prepare for the negotiations between the two governments, to start within a fortnight of the new Spanish government taking office: "The wish is for this meeting to be the trigger for the dialogue table between the two governments."
The minister said that Torra on Saturday urged different political figures to meet to set out the contents of the dialogue. They want to "guarantee the contents, conditions and guarantees" the Catalan side wants from the talks.
On the subject of the Electoral Commission ordering Torra's removal from office, she insisted that it's an administrative body that supervises elections and has no powers to decide on whether he loses his status as a member of the Catalan Parliament or not. As such, she said, they don't contemplate him being removed from office by these means.