Junts proposes legal measures for the "defamations and leaks" of cases of alleged harassment

They see the image of the party damaged and, from now on, the meetings of the parliamentary group will be recorded

BARCELONA, 28 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Junts management has proposed taking legal measures in the face of the "defamations and leaks" that have occurred as a result of the cases of alleged gender-based harassment in the formation made public by the deputies Aurora Madaula - second secretary of the Parliament's Bureau -- and Cristina Casol.

Various knowledgeable sources have explained this to Europa Press, who specify that this was stated at a meeting of the Junts permanent party and that, subsequently, the president of the parliamentary group, Albert Batet, commented on it during the ordinary meeting on Tuesday before the deputies of the formation.

In this meeting, Batet explained that the group asked to activate these legal measures "in the face of this breach of confidentiality, of these defamations and of these leaks" that have occurred in the cases and that, in his opinion, have harmful effects.

Madaula and Casol, related to the president of Junts, Laura Borràs, presented to the Parliament's Equality Office, and at different times, a complaint against the Junts group for alleged harassment, which delegated the investigation to an external company.

This external company has not yet resolved Madaula's case, but it has resolved Casol's case with a report that concluded that, in the majority of the ten situations reported by her, it had not been possible to prove situations of harassment or discrimination but it did describe an environment of work in the group "where the most cultural machismo is rooted.

It also states that there are situations of internal tension in the training and that there is "a strongly patriarchal base", among other aspects.

Batet himself charged at the meeting against the "defamations" that he considers contained in the report and that, in his opinion, harm the image of the party, and although he explicitly referred to detailing the facts without delving into personal issues, he assured that From the group they have always worked to protect the entire group, in their words.

He also announced that, from now on, they will record the meetings of the parliamentary group "so that the content of what is discussed cannot be distorted" and so that there is a record of the dynamics of debate within the group, he said.

Casol, who the party has warned that she will be expelled from the group if she does not hand in her deputy certificate, has already informed Batet and the general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, that she will not do so and her willingness to become a deputy does not attached.

After their case was filed in Parliament, 26 of the 32 Junts deputies wrote a letter to the party leadership to request Casol's resignation, and Borràs and Turull had to try mediation and speak with her.

The case of Madaula, who is still on medical leave, also generated widespread discomfort in the group after, in the 'Parlament de les Dones' that was held in November of last year, he stated that he had suffered "silent violence" from colleagues. .

Erra herself met with her and urged her to reflect on her continuity as second secretary of the Board, and 22 of the 32 Junts deputies also signed a text against her that they presented to the Guarantees Commission.

The party leadership has always denied that there is machismo in Junts and attributes the situation to a matter of "political debate", and various territorial divisions of the party, such as that of Tarragona with Quim Calatayud and Josep Maria Cruset at the helm, are considering promoting a manifesto of support for the parliamentary group, other sources have explained to Europa Press.

And in parallel to all this, the president of the Parliament, Anna Erra, proposed, at Tuesday's meeting of the Board, to suspend the protocol for the prevention, detection, addressing and resolutions of harassment situations of the Chamber to which Madaula and Casol have been welcomed to deal with their cases.

The proposal received direct opposition from the rest of those present at the Parliament Board meeting, in this case from PSC-Units, ERC and the CUP, so it declined.

Despite everything, the commons have asked to hold an expanded Table to discuss the issue, on which the Parliament president's team has not wanted to comment until now.

Although the disagreements and differences start from the beginning of the legislature between the two factions of Junts - the supporters of Borràs and those of Turull -, the turning point occurs, according to some sources, in the vote at the beginning of October of the Popular Legislative Initiative (ILP) in the Parliament that proposed declaring the Mercat del Ocells de la Rambla in Barcelona as Cultural and Intangible Heritage of Catalonia.

In this vote, in which the Parliament defeated the proposal, five Junts deputies broke the voting discipline: three did not participate (Madaula, Joan Canadell and Francesc de Dalmases) and two did so against (Casol and Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas) .

After that, Batet held a tense meeting with them, reproached them for their attitude and the tension increased to the present day, which has ended up leading to the situation that the party has on the table with the open cases of Casol and Madaula.