Today's ordering of Catalan president Quim Torra from office by a Spanish administrative body, the Central Electoral Commission (JEC) has provoked outrage in Catalonia, especially in the independence movement. Torra is the third consecutive Catalan president to face retaliatory action from the Spanish justice system, after Artur Mas and Carles Puigdemont, and the second consecutive head of a Catalan executive who has faced an attempt to actually remove him while serving in the office. It is a situation unprecedented in the EU.

One of the first of many reactions to the decision of the Central Electoral Commission to strip Quim Torra of his credentials as a parliamentart deputy was that of exiled Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, who called the decision "outrageous" and "shameful".

Acaben d'inhabilitar el president @QuimTorraiPla. Indignant, vergonyós. Els dos darrers presidents de Catalunya han estat cessats per Espanya, no pel Parlament. S'han acostumat a decidir qui ha de ser president i qui no. Prou. És com el 155, però sense passar pel Senat. — Carles Puigdemont (@KRLS) 3 de gener de 2020

Translation:

"They just disqualified @QuimTorraiPla from holding presidential office. Outrageous, shameful. The last two presidents of Catalonia have been removed by Spain, not by the Catalan Parliament. [The Spanish state has] become used to deciding who should be president and who shouldn't. Enough. It's like Article 155, but without it having to be passed by the Senate." - Carles Puigdemont

All the leaders of pro-independence parties JxCAT and ERC have given their support to Torra, along with many prominent representatives of civil society:

Ara, més que mai, cal desobeir aquest estat arbitrari i antidemocràtic on quadrilles d’aiatolàs disfressats de jutges posats a dit pels rectors del clavegueram, destitueixen quan i com volen els presidents que escull el poble. Ja n’hi ha prou!!! — Xavier Sala-i-Martin (@XSalaimartin) January 3, 2020

I, sobre tot, sobre tot, el President @QuimTorraiPla NO hauria de convocar eleccions com a resposta a la Junta Espanyola de Cretins. — Xavier Sala-i-Martin (@XSalaimartin) January 3, 2020

"Now, more than ever, it is necessary to disobey this arbitrary, antidemocratic state full of gangs of ayatollahs masquerading as judges appointed by fiat of the directors of the sewers, sacking as and when they wish the presidents chosen by the people. We've had enough!!! ...And, above all, President @QuimTorraiPla should NOT call elections in response to the Spanish Commission of Cretins." - Xavier Sala-i-Martin, economist

Si el Parlament té dignitat, ha de ratificar al MHP de la Generalitat, siguin quins siguin els requeriments. Tots amb el Preside t democràtic de Catalunya @QuimTorraiPla. — Lluís Llach (@lluis_llach) January 3, 2020

"If the Catalan Parliament has dignity, it must ratify the President of Catalonia, whatever they are ordering him to do. Everybody with the democratic president of Catalonia @QuimTorraiPla." - Lluís Llach, musician

Enric Prat de la Riba. Presó

Puig i Cadafalch. Exili

Macia. Presó i exili

Companys. Presos, exili i assassinat

Irla i Tarradellas. Exili

Pujol. Presó

Mas. Inhabilitació@KRLS Exili i persecucio judicial@QuimTorraiPla Inhabilitació

QUANT DE TEMPS MÉS HO PERMETREM? — Pilar Rahola (@RaholaOficial) January 3, 2020

"Enric Prat de la Riba. Prison.

Puig i Cadafalch. Exile

Macia. Prison and exile

Companys. Prison, exile and assassination

Irla and Tarradellas. Exile

Pujol. Prison

Mas. Banned from office

@ KRLS Puigdemont. Exile and judicial persecution

@ QuimTorraiPla Banned from office

HOW MUCH LONGER WILL WE ALLOW IT?

- Pilar Rahola, commentator

La ley, que injusta y formalmente permite que se prive de la condición de diputado a un condenado por sentencia no firme, debió ser interpretada, como lo fue por la Junta de Barcelona de forma estricta y proporcionada. Lo más parecido al 155. — Joan Queralt (@JoanQueralt) January 3, 2020

"The law, which unfairly and formally allows parliamentary deputies to be deprived of their status after a conviction which is still subject to appeal, should have been interpreted, as it was by the Barcelona Provincial Electoral Commission in a strict and proportionate manner. The closest thing possible to Article 155."- Joan Queralt, lawyer

Tenim un President i és el MHP @QuimTorraiPla

Defensem la presidència! — Antonio Baños (@antoniobanos_) January 3, 2020

"We have a President and he is the Most Honourable @QuimTorraiPla

Let's defend the presidency!" - Antonio Baños, journalist

Jo no l'he votat, però si @QuimTorraiPla no segueix sent president de la Generalitat, no vivim en una democràcia. Ara mateix l'única sortida digna que em ve al cap és un mur humà que faci que el colpisme de la JEC no serveixi per res. — Albano-Dante Fachín (@AlbanoDante76) January 3, 2020

"I didn't vote for him, but if @QuimTorraiPla is not still president of Catalonia, we don't live in a democracy. Right now the only decent way out that comes to my mind is a human wall to ensure that the coup by the JEC will not work."- Albano-Dante Fachín, journalist.

Pro-independence civil groups the ANC and Òmnium have called demonstrations in various locations. In Barcelona the concentration is at Plaça Sant Jaume.

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