Spain’s Supreme Court has confirmed that the former Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont and other two exiled former government members are ‘eligible’ for elections – but the institution has now sent their ban to stand in the upcoming European Parliament elections back to the local Madrid court where it originally was.
The Supreme Court said after a meeting on Sunday afternoon that it has no jurisdiction to decide on the veto, and has ordered the local Madrid court in charge of the issue to have a final say on their bid ‘immediately’.
The Supreme Court’s statement said that ‘in the judgment of this Chamber, there is no cause of ineligibility.’
Following the veto by the electoral authority (JEC) over his bid, Puigdemont’s candidacy, the Junts per Catalunya (JxCat) party, originally challenged the decision before a local Madrid court.
The prosecutor of this court sided with the former president, while the judges decided on Saturday morning to transfer the issue to Spain’s Supreme Court.
According to the prosecutor, not letting them take part in Junts per Catalunya’s candidacy would infringe their’basic right’ to stand in an election.
At a press conference on Saturday from Waterloo in Belgium, Carles Puigdemont said he was confident of a favourable resolution to his appeal against the veto, and he also added that whatever the final decision, he would still participate in the EU Parliament election campaign.
