Vox ignites tribute to Companys in Parliament: hangs posters calling him a "murderer"

BarcelonaOutrage in the Catalan Parliament over a new attack by Vox on the memory of the former president of the Generalitat Lluís CompanysThe far-right party has a poster calling the Republican a "murderer" hanging in a window of its office in the House of Representatives, but this Wednesday it took advantage of the floral offering before the sculpture commemorating his execution to enlarge it. On the occasion of the event in the courtyard of the Parliamentary Library, Vox placed even more posters, visible from the offering area, leaving one in the same place where a wreath had been laid in memory of the former president.

This has prompted several complaints from spokespersons for ERC, the CUP (United Left), Junts (Junts), Comuns (Comuns), and the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) at a subsequent meeting of the spokespersons' committee, in which MP Joan Garriga (Vox) reiterated his grievances against the former president. In response to this, the Republicans, the CUP (United Left), and Comuns (Comuns) have asked the committee to urgently convene the committee on the status of the deputy, which is responsible for studying sanctions for parliamentarians who violate the code of conduct. The committee has agreed to request the urgent convening of this committee, but has rejected the expulsion requested by the CUP, considering that the conditions set out in the Regulations are not met.

ERC, however, wants to go a step further. In a press conference, Republican spokesperson Ester Capella called for reforming the regulations to address hate speech, both from the far-right pro-Spanish Vox and the pro-independence Aliança. "Parliament must begin to get to work to prevent the proliferation of this type of speech and the targeting of individuals," she said. Specifically, she referred to to the continuous attacks that the Republican deputy Najat Driouech, a Muslim, has received from Aliança Catalana"We are all clear that we must prevent them from delivering the speeches that a few years ago led Europe to the dehumanization of groups based on their origin or religion," he added. Furthermore, Capella has proposed naming the Parliament's auditorium after Lluís Companys to keep the former president's memory alive, and it has been accepted. He also proposed that the bust of Companys, currently in the speaker's office, be placed in a prominent location in the Parliament.

Parliament has already established a parliamentary committee whose objective is to study the "mechanisms" to contain speech that promotes fascism, racism, and hate speech. There, the sponsoring groups –PSC, Junts, ERC, Comuns and the CUP– urged the study of legislative changes in this regard. For now, the Speaker of the Parliament, Josep Rull, has resolved this by issuing warnings to deputies when they engage in such attacks from the rostrum. In this regard, Capella considered it "inconceivable" that the committee on the status of members, chaired by Junts, does not meet regularly to address the "repeated" hate speech in the interventions of Vox and Alianza.

The CUP wants to expel the Garriga family.

Following the incident, the CUP (Cup) has also sent a letter directly requesting "strong" measures against Vox. Beyond convening the committee on the status of the deputy, the anti-capitalists have urged the committee to suspend Joan Garriga "indefinitely from the exercise of his parliamentary functions." They also want both the spokesperson and the leader of Vox in Catalonia, Ignacio Garriga, to be expelled as "ultimately responsible for the incidents that occurred within the parliamentary precincts," but the committee has rejected this.

The PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) also condemns Vox's actions. Socialist sources state that they will support whatever the committee decides and support the incident being brought to the attention of the deputy's statute. "The attitude of the far right is reaching a level of disrespect for citizens, institutions, and deputies, which merits reflection," warn PSC sources. Junts (Junts) communicates a similar position, demanding "maximum respect" for Companys and also expressing maximum support for the committee. Vox's accusation that Companys was responsible for the deaths of "8,000 Catalans" is directly borrowed from the Franco regime's argument, which held the former Republican president responsible for the executions committed by anarchists and communists during the start of the Civil War.