MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2021) Spanish Justice Minister Juan Carlos Campo wants parliamentary elections in Catalonia to happen as scheduled, on February 14, despite the increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the autonomous community.
The Catalan Generalitat, as well as the main political parties of the region, advocated for the postponement of the elections. However, the Socialists' Party of Catalonia, of which Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa is a member, supports holding the vote in February.
"The answer that is given should be absolutely proportional to the situation because we are talking about democracy and the rule of law and we must be careful as we are dealing with a very delicate thing," the minister said in a radio broadcast.
On January 15, the Catalan government will make a final decision on whether to postpone the February elections to May or June amid the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.
The justice minister called for "great caution" in taking the decision concerning the voting day.
The current Catalan government operates since the end of September 2020, when the Spanish supreme court confirmed Catalan leader Quim Torra ineligible to hold any elected office for one and a half years.
