The Parliament of Catalonia now has a new speaker: Anna Erra. This Friday, the retiring Together for Catalonia (Junts) mayor of the city of Vic has been elected as the new leader of Catalonia's second most senior institution with the votes of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) and Junts. Erra, who thus becomes the eleventh speaker of the Catalan chamber since the restoration of this institution after the Franco dictatorship of Spain, needed two rounds of voting to be chosen. In the first, her candidacy did not reach an absolute majority (68 votes were needed), and thus a second was necessary, where she won by the required simple majority (gaining 64 votes) over the Catalan Socialist (PSC) candidate Assumpta Escarp (44 votes). The left-wing, pro-independence CUP voted blank, but gave one of its votes to the exiled minister and MP Lluís Puig (for this session, telematic voting was not allowed).
The speakership of Parliament has been vacant since last Thursday, after former holder of the position Laura Borràs definitively lost her seat as an MP once the Spanish Supreme Court had rejected the arguments of both the Catalan chamber and the Junts president herself to try to halt the imposition of the decision by the Central Electoral Commission (JEC) to withdraw her seat as a result of being found guilty of abuse of authority and document falsification in a contractual irregularities case that goes back to her time as director of the Institute of Catalan Letters. After the Supreme Court's decision, the MPs' procedural body, the Bureau, executed the removal of Borràs's seat and agreed to call a parliamentary session to select a new speaker. Thus, today's selection of Erra also puts an end to the institution's ten-month hiatus: since the Junts president was suspended from her rights and duties as a parliamentarian at the end of July last year - when she was sent to trial - the parliament has been temporarily in the hands of ERC's Alba Vergés. Erra has been the strong favourite to becomes the new speaker for weeks, and after ERC announced it would support the Junts candidate several days ago, arguing for the need for an "independentist", and the CUP decided it would not oppose her, she seemed sure of being chosen.
Anna Erra: "I receive the position in unusual political circumstances"
After being sworn in as speaker of Parliament, Anna Erra took her place on the parliamentary bench and delivered her first speech as the country's second highest figure of authority. Erra thanked those who had supported her and promised to "work tirelessly to live up to expectations". However, she also emphasized that she was taking hold of the post "in unusual political circumstances": "In a full democracy, Parliament would not have suffered democratic interference of the sort that it has suffered. The latest episode was the dismissal of Laura Borràs. My speakership starts from a democratic anomaly that we must all reverse." To do so, she "invited" the parliamentary groups to "reverse those rules that contradict the opinion of the UN", referring to article 25.4 of the parliamentary regulations.
According to the new speaker, Parliament "has not experienced a situation of full democratic normality for some time and we have been the scene of a complex and unwanted situation, being the object of illegitimate attacks and unacceptable interference" . Erra specified that this had resulted in "very serious personal consequences" and addressed former speaker Carme Forcadell, jailed for sedition before receiving a pardon, to acknowledge her. "In Catalonia, there is a political conflict that can only be resolved through politics and respect for the institutions. We must leave de-judicialization behind and be able to defend all ideas without the threats of judicialization and repression" , she said.
Anna Erra also pledged to "be a speaker who defends the sovereignty of Parliament, the right to debate, speak and vote on everything agreed by the parliamentary groups". "I will defend the rights of each and every one of the deputies, I will defend the institution against any external interference", she asserted. As well, she placed the fight against "fascism, anti-Semitism, denialism and xenophobia" as a priority axis: "They cannot have room in this Parliament". "You will find in me an open door and an outstretched hand because I believe in dialogue as the supreme value of politics", she emphasized, adding the defence of the Catalan language as an additional priority.
Who is Anna Erra?
Anna Erra i Solà (Vic, 1965) is one of the most senior figures in Junts per Catalunya. Vice-president of the party since August 2020, her broad support within the party was confirmed at its last congress in 2022, where she was the candidate to receive the second greatest number of votes, only behind Jordi Turull but ahead of Laura Borràs. With a degree in geography and history from the University of Barcelona and a diploma in teaching from the University of Vic, she joined institutional politics in 2007 as Vic city councillor with responsibilities for education, culture, commerce and tourism. Eight years later, she became mayor of the city, a position she has held for the last two terms. She has also been a member of the Catalan Parliament since June 2018 and, from this June 9th, 2023, she becomes the most important figure in the Catalan chamber and the second highest authority in the country.
The 10 speakers who have preceded her since the restitution of the Catalan Parlament are Heribert Barrera (ERC, 1980-1984), Miquel Coll (CiU, 1984-1988), Joaquim Xicoy (CiU, 1988-1995), Joan Reventós (PSC, 1995-1999), Joan Rigol (CiU, 1999-2003), Ernest Benach (ERC, 2003-2010), Núria de Gispert (CiU, 2010-2015), Carme Forcadell (JxSí, 2015-2017), Roger Torrent (ERC, 2018-2021) and Laura Borràs (Junts, 2021-2023). Thus, Anna Erra is the fourth woman to preside over the chamber, after Núria de Gispert, Carme Forcadell and Laura Borràs.