The deputies go to the Parliament’s Equality Office
The parliamentary group of Junts per Catalunya in the Parliament is experiencing a situation of tension and confrontation and the latest episode has to do with alleged cases of sexist harassment suffered by two of its deputies. Cristina Casol, the first, and Aurora Madaula later presented their complaints against members of their own party to the Chamber of Equality Office, which has a specific protocol for complaints of discrimination based on gender.
Madaula’s complaint was known since she herself made it public in her speech at an event last November. But now, according to the newspaper Ara, the deputy has decided to use the parliamentary equality mechanism. He follows in the footsteps of her colleague Casol, whose case the commission closed last week when the commission considered that discrimination could not be proven, although it did warn about possible sexist practices in the scenario of a clash between internal currents of a training .
The party responds with legal and disciplinary actions
Casol’s complaint and its leak to the press also caused the party leadership to go to court. The secretary general Jordi Turull denounced in court the dissemination of both the deputy’s arguments against Junts and the report commissioned by the Parliament from an external entity.
In addition, around twenty Junts deputies have asked that Casol be expelled from the party for the alleged false accusations made. If this ends up happening, the representative has already announced that she will not leave the record but that she will remain as a non-attached deputy.
Meanwhile, the case reported by Madaula continues its own course. After the deputy’s initial revelation, the party acted. First, the guarantee commission opened a procedure to determine whether she should be removed as vice president of the formation. Then, to try to remove her from the Parliament Table, where she is her secretary.
The president of the Chamber, Anna Erra, even informed him of the “loss of confidence,” despite the fact that the members of the governing body are elected by direct vote by the plenary session and not the presidency. Since then, Madaula has been on medical leave and, therefore, absent from day-to-day parliamentary work.
The two complaints are framed in a context of internal war between factions of Junts
Beyond the specific facts, the two complaints are part of a context of internal conflict between factions of Junts and, both, have been presented by two deputies from the circle closest to Laura Borràs, the former president of the Parliament who was He retired the seat after his conviction for corruption. Her replacement, Anna Erra, is closely linked to the rival sector, led by the general secretary, Jordi Turull. Since Erra’s arrival to the leadership of the Chamber, the party has tried to make a change of teams, which has been opposed by the sector closest to Borràs.
However, the ideological discrepancy between both groups, the more pragmatic Turull group and its opponent more reluctant to any understanding with the State, has not exploded, due to Carles Puigdemont’s commitment to the pact with the PSOE. The figure of the former president is one of the few issues that still unite irreconcilable sectors in other areas and that, although they do not wage war over political positions, they do wage war over the distribution of power in the institutions.
