Catalonia's ex-leader Puigdemont banned from EU polls: Party

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Spanish election authorities have banned Catalonia's former president Carles Puigdemont, who fled the country in 2017 after a secession attempt, from running in EU polls, his party said on Monday.

The party, Together for Catalonia, issued a statement accusing the electoral commission of wanting to "silence and push aside Puigdemont" so that he can't explain what he represents at the heart of European institutions."

The commission decision, seen by AFP, also excludes Toni Comin, who was in Catalonia's regional government when the secession bid happened and is now in self-exile in Belgium.

People take part in a rally of Catalan separatist organisations to protest at the trial of Catalan leaders and call for self-determination rights, in Madrid, Spain, March 16, 2019. /Reuters Photo‍

Clara Ponsati, another former Catalan minister who fled Spain and planned to run in the elections, has been banned as well.

No reason was given as to why they were banned from running.

The commission would not comment when contacted by AFP.

Puigdemont, Comin and Ponsati were all part of a push to hold an independence referendum in October 2017 in defiance of a court ban.

That sparked Spain's deepest political crisis in decades.

The referendum in the wealthy northeastern region was followed by a short-lived declaration of independence.

Then conservative prime minister Mariano Rajoy moved in, taking direct control of the region, sacking the Catalan executive and calling snap polls.

That prompted Puigdemont and others to flee Spain.

Those Catalan leaders who remained in Spain are now on trial in Madrid over their role in the secession bid.

When he was picked to represent his party in EU polls last month, Puigdemont said: "It is time to take another step to internationalize the right to self-determination in Catalonia from the heart of Europe to the whole world."

But Spain's conservative Popular Party and centre-right Ciudadanos appealed his candidacy and that of the two others, prompting the commission's decision.

Together for Catalonia said it would "immediately deploy all forms of legal action in the Spanish state and in Europe to defend the rights of the three candidates."

Puigdemont's lawyer Gonzalo Boye told AFP "there is no legal obstacle (to them taking part) unless one wanted to exclude them for political reasons."

(Cover: Sacked Catalan President Carles Puigdemont makes a statement the day after the Catalan regional parliament declared independence from Spain in Girona, Spain, October 28, 2017. /Reuters Photo)

Source(s): AFP