MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2021) The Catalan authorities postpone the snap parliamentary elections from February 14 until May 30, as the region's COVID-19 outbreak is still bad, Catalonia's acting president, Pere Aragones, said on Friday following a cabinet meeting.
Earlier in the day, Socialists' Party leader Miquel Iceta said that Aragones proposed postponing the elections at a meeting with local parliament members, adding that the Socialists' Party was the only one to vote against the proposal.
"We are postponing the vote until May 30 so that the elections do not coincide with the hardest weeks of the third wave of the pandemic ... so that no one has to give up their right to vote for fear of being infected. We want to save lives. And we want to guarantee the right to vote for everyone," Aragones said following the meeting.
In September 2020, the Supreme Court of Spain disqualified former Catalan President Quim Torra from the office over violation of approved electoral practices during a 2019 general election. The Catalan parliament refused to chose a new government leader and was subsequently dismissed, which was why Catalonia had to schedule snap elections.
Over the past two weeks, the Catalan health authorities confirmed over 40,000 new COVID-19 cases and 58 deaths. The number of infections has reached 532 per 100,000 population, which is higher than Spain's overall average of 495 cases per 100,000 population.
Catalonia continues to remain under strict restrictions, such as a ban on movement between municipalities for non-essential reasons, a six-people limit of group gatherings, and a nighttime curfew. Non-food stores are closed on weekends and food and drink businesses limit their operations to only a few hours per day.
