Junts per Catalunya wants President Pere Aragonès to explain motu proprio in parliament for the negotiation between the Govern de la Generalitat and the Government to repeal sedition and modify the crime of public disorder.
And if the head of the Catalan Executive did not do it himself, in JxCat they do not rule out requesting it through the mechanisms that the Parliament has. "But we trust that he will do it of his own free will," said the president of the Junts parliamentary group, Albert Batet, this Tuesday at a press conference.
The claim that Aragonès appears is justified, in the opinion of the post-convergents, by the statements of prominent members of the PSOE such as Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister, the First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, and the spokesperson for the formation in the Congress, the exlehendakari Patxi López. In several interviews, the socialist leaders have justified the modification of the Penal Code, with the repeal of sedition and the creation of aggravated public disorder, so that the former president of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont can be extradited.
"They make it clear that the objective of the sedition reform is the extradition of Puigdemont. And the three highest institutional representatives of the party have said it very clearly," said Batet, who highlights that Aragonès "has only negotiated one issue that It affects us all." "The consequences are in the fine print," he added.
Batet has referred that the head of the Catalan Executive must appear in Parliament "for transparency and respect for citizens and institutions." "We want explanations in parliamentary headquarters, in institutions with glass walls," said the leader of Junts, who stressed that he appeared on Friday in the Gòtica Gallery of the Palau de la Generalitat but has not informed the groups of the content of the negotiation before an "ambiguous reform, full of doubts and shadows, especially after the declarations of the highest representatives of the Government and the PSOE".
"Aragonès has only negotiated an issue that affects us all, without talking to the reprisals and the rest of the independence forces that allowed his investiture. Of the 74 deputies who supported him, 41, the majority, have not been informed and are affected by negotiations between governments," complained Batet.
In Junts' opinion, the modification of the Penal Code violates fundamental rights, criminalizes mobilizations and "could increase the repression against the independence movement." "That is why we want transparency and we ask for clarity, to know exactly what compensation there is, in exchange for what the agreement has been produced," concluded the leader of JxCat in Parliament.
In parallel, Junts plans to present amendments in Congress in the parliamentary procedure of the reform of the Penal Code and one possibility that is contemplated is to introduce the simple repeal of sedition and that the retroactive effects be detailed, as was done 20 years ago with the crime of insubordination. But there is no decision on this yet. In addition, the legal services of JxCat and the lawyers of its political leaders are studying what scope and consequences the reform may have for those who are expatriates.
For her part, the spokeswoman for JxCat in Congress, Míriam Nogueras, warned this Tuesday at a press conference that they are not going to be complicit in "whitewashing" the PSOE and the Government "much less facilitating reaching the maximum objective that this State has", which, according to what he has said, is that Puigdemont be extradited.
The formation studies the possibility of presenting an amendment to the entirety with an alternative text to demand that the crime of sedition be definitively repealed and not only replaced by that of aggravated public disorder. In addition to amendments in this regard, Junts is also considering proposing changes regarding the crime of embezzlement, since they are concerned that "what a politician can do without having put money in his pocket" could be classified as such.
