The Government rules out adopting new restrictions before February 7 to defend itself before the TSJC
The court had opened the door to postponing the election if the pandemic worsened and there were more restrictions
The Government will not adopt further restrictions before February 7, when the current measures of municipal confinement and limitation of social interaction expire. This was explained this Tuesday by the Government's spokesperson, Meritxell Budó, who explained that the situation will be reviewed when scheduled, which is next week. This implies, however, that when the Catalan High Court returns to study whether or not to maintain the elections February 14 (it has to issue a ruling on February 8 at the latest) there will be the same measures as when the decree that postponed the elections until May 30 was suspended.
Although the situation is "worrying" because of the rise in contagion and the British variant - in Budó's words - the health authorities have not recommended that the government request the Spanish executive to impose total lockdown, nor has an additional package of restrictions been proposed today to contain the pandemic and to be able to use them in court. "For the moment we are staying here," said Budó, who recalled that the current measures were approved for a fortnight and that they will be reviewed by Procicat, the body in charge of managing emergencies in Catalonia, on 7 February.
This closes the door that the High Court had left open to reconsider its criteria: in the resolution it made public last Thursday, it assured that it would temporarily maintain the election date although it could end up postponing it if the evolution of the pandemic required it and new restrictions were put in place. In this case, it referred to both the current state of alarm that the Spanish government would have to amend and the mobility measures of the Generalitat. For the time being, neither of the two administrations will make any move.
After maintaining the precautionary measures, the court gave four working days to the plaintiff - the private citizen and the candidacy Izquierda en Positivo - to make a written statement with the reasons for which they oppose the postponement of the elections. Once this document has been presented, the TSJC will send it to the Generalitat, which will have four more working days to answer it. Subsequently, a small evidentiary phase will be opened in which the Government intends to expose all the reports from Health and Foreign Affairs that led it to take the decision to change the date of the elections and also evidence from the health authorities that warn of the epidemiological risk of holding the elections.
"We will defend the postponement [in court] and at the same time ensure that the elections on 14 February are held with maximum safety guarantees," said spokeswoman Budó. This will mean that the executive will necessarily contradict itself in its public discourse in the face of the elections and the argument that it will use in the courts: the government assures that it will take measures to guarantee that the elections will be safe, but at the same time it will maintain before the High Court that the best thing from an epidemiological point of view is for them to be postponed.
Changes in protocol?
What will remain unchanged today is the protocol that Electoral Processes approved in December to deal with the elections, when the February 14 elections were automatically called following the disqualification of the president Quim Torra. Budó has said that the Government is "working" to make antigen tests to the members of the table and thus guarantee "security" in the polling stations. He said that both the Foreign Office and the Health Department are studying ways to do this, but asked "not to speculate" on this issue. He also referred to the PPE that will be provided to those working at polling stations towards the end of day, from 7pm to 8pm, when those infected with coronavirus and their contacts are recommended to vote.
However, the spokeswoman has not detailed whether the executive will take any additional measures, since the above-mentioned measures were already incorporated in the initial protocol for the elections approved in December and were considered insufficient by the Government and the parties at the time to hold the elections.
