The provincial public prosecution service of Madrid has contradicted Spain's Central Electoral Commission and said that Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, and his former ministers Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí, have to be able to stand in this May's European Parliament election. They believe that the Commission's decision to prevent them from doing so doesn't square with the law.
As such, they support the appeal in favour of the candidates submitted by their party, JxCat. They also agree, as they note in their report, with the dissenting opinion signed by, among others, the Commission's chair and deputy chair. The prosecutors call for recognition of "the fundamental right to access public office under equal conditions".
They call for the three candidates to be reinstated to the Lliures per Europa (Junts) list for May's election on which they held the top three spots. They argue that the Commission's decision "doesn't fit the law, because it violates the fundamental right of passive suffrage".
For the prosecutors, the Commission has "created ex novo a motive for ineligibility not included in the law, which for obvious reasons is not only incompatible with electoral law but also with constitutional precepts". They note that beyond a firm conviction, the law does not include any restrictions to passive suffrage.
The prosecutor has presented its arguments to the Madrid court which Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí appealed the Commission's decision to.
Deputy speaker of the Catalan Parliament Josep Costa celebrated the decision on Twitter, saying they're hoping for a favourable verdict tomorrow.
Lawyer Gonzalo Boye, who was behind the appeal, joked he was "going for more popcorn".