“I will propose to the chamber that Jordi Turull be candidate for president,” Catalan parliament speaker Roger Torrent told reporters late Wednesday, just hours after Turull was summoned to appear in court on Friday. Roger Torrent, Speaker of Catalan regional Parliament, delivers a statement in Barcelona. Even if Turull is elected Catalan president, if he is then judged and sentenced, he risks being disqualified from holding office and being forced to step down. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government sacked the Catalan government, called early elections and took direct control of the region in October just hours after the Catalan parliament made a unilateral declaration of independence. Its leaders will meet at 3:00 pm, just two hours before the debate and vote in the Catalan parliament is to begin to decide if they will back Turull.

Source: New Strait Times March 22, 2018 00:00 UTC