Spain's Central Electoral Commission will penalise the Catalan president, Quim Torra, for his official speech on Sant Jordi (Saint Jordi's Day). The Commission believes that Torra's speech violated political neutrality during the campaign for this Sunday's election, because his remarks "fully coincide" with the rhetoric of certain parties standing. The body has thus agreed to open a file for a violation of article 50.2 of LOREG, Spain's election law.
The Commission also orders Torra to refrain from now on from "carrying out similar actions which imply a partisan act" by the Catalan government. The president has two months to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
The announcement follows a complaint from Ciudadanos arguing that Torra's speech went against article 50 of LOREG, which was partially accepted by the Commission. The judges believe that Torra used expressions which coincide with those used by certain parties during the election campaign and highlight his duty to remain politically neutral when acting as the head of a public institution.