EU must oversee election results, says jailed Catalan vice president

Absolute mistrust in Spain organizing the Catalan elections. This is what becomes deducted after the jailed Catalan vice president, Oriol Junqueras, asked the European Union to oversee the results of the December 21 elections in a letter published by Politico. “Frankly, it is hard to believe that Spain’s conservative People’s Party government will actually respect the result of these elections,” he said. “Therefore, it is vital that the European Union oversee the results to ensure they are truly respected, and to erase any doubts about the outcome.”

Junqueras' party recruits agents to avoid 'electoral fraud'

The Catalan administration has been in charge of organizing Catalan elections for decades. Yet now the situation is different, because the self-rule is suspended and the Spanish government is the ultimate responsible for the vote. In this context, Junqueras’ party, Esquerra Republicana, has recruited 14,000 polling agents to supervise the counting and make sure there is no “electoral fraud.”

'EU has a duty to uphold democracy'

In his op-ed in Politico, Junqueras also said that the EU have to supervise the Spanish measures against Catalonia’s self-rule also after the election. “Above all, the EU can help ensure from the start that with the results of these elections on December 21, the abuses will end.” According to the vice president of the Catalan deposed government, “the EU has a duty to uphold democracy.” “Europe’s absence so far, and its declaration that this is an ‘internal matter’ for Spain, threatens to become a serious mid to long-term problem,” he added.