Rull changes the senior lawyer and the general secretary of the Parliament
The president of the chamber assures that it is not a break in stage but a handover
BarcelonaThe Parliament's board has decided this Wednesday to replace the secretary general and the chamber's senior lawyer. Thus, Clara Marsan and Anna Casas replace Albert Capelleras and Miquel Palomares, respectively. Sources from the board have argued the decision by the will to give a "new impulse", coinciding with the legislature's midpoint, which will be completed on June 10, and given the realization that the approval of the Generalitat's budgets will give continuity to the legislature. The two chosen names are a proposal from the President of the Parliament, Josep Rull, which has been approved by the board unanimously. Marsan and Casas will be the secretary general and the senior lawyer starting June 1.
The board highlights that Marsan has been a lawyer at the Parliament since 2019 and is connected with new technologies. Until now, she has been secretary of the Parliament's Advisory Council on Science and Technology (CAPCIT), a body advising the Parliament on technology. Precisely, the chamber's adaptation to new technologies is one of the challenges the board wants to face. In the board meeting this Wednesday where the replacements were made official, President Rull stated that it is not a break in an era but a replacement.
The body's sources have thanked the work of the until now secretary general and recalled that Capelleras arrived at the position at a very complex moment for the Parliament. In this sense, they highlight that his work has contributed to the agreement with the chamber's staff and to "social peace". Albert Capelleras was chosen as the new secretary general of the Parliament on September 4, 2023, under the presidency of Anna Erra. And he has been a lawyer for the Catalan chamber since March 2023.
The eighth secretary general
Since the restoration of Parliament in 1980, the general secretaries (until 2006, senior officials according to the old designation) have been Robert Vergés (1980-1981), Ismael Pitarch (1981-1999), Imma Folchi (1999-2015), Pere Sol (2015-2016), Xavier Muro (2016-2021), Esther Andreu (2021-2022), Miquel Palomares (2022-2023), and Albert Capelleras (2023-2026). In accordance with the Parliament's regulations, the general secretary, under the direction of the presidency and the board, is the head of all personnel and services of Parliament and carries out the technical support and advisory functions to the chamber's governing bodies, assisted by the legal advisors. They are appointed by the board, at the proposal of the presidency, from among the chamber's legal advisors.
Miquel Palomares also leaves the position of senior legal advisor, a role he has held since 2021. Furthermore, from June 2022 to September 2023, he combined this with the functions of general secretary following the resignation of legal advisor Esther Andreu. Sources from the board assure that Palomares will continue to play a key role as head of Parliament's external office, which has recently been strengthened with two additional positions. They highlighted his work in recent months advising the board on matters of hate speech. Anna Casas will be the new senior legal advisor of Parliament starting June 1st, and the first woman to hold this position. She has been a legal advisor to the chamber since 2002 and was previously head of the parliamentary management department since 2015.
The changes in the general secretariat and the senior legal advisor position also coincide with the recent appointment of Anna Torné as director of internal affairs, who is responsible for personnel management. The position of director of internal affairs had been vacant for four years, and last year the board decided to open the selection process to all career civil servants of the Generalitat. With these three recent changes in Parliament's main management positions, the board considers that a "new era" is opening to give new impetus to the set objectives: expansion of Parliament, internationalization, adaptation to technology, and openness to citizens.