ERC Asks Parliament to Sanction Sílvia Orriols

ERC has taken another step in the offensive of the sanitary cordon parties against Aliança Catalana. The republican parliamentary group has requested the Parliament's Board to evaluate whether the deputy Sílvia Orriols has violated the code of conduct. They cite as a reason the repeated accusations of misogyny against ERC deputy Najat Driouech for wearing the Islamic veil.

The republicans accuse Orriols of wanting to humiliate and belittle Driouech, and of using her to attack an entire group. The Board will now have to evaluate whether there are sufficient elements to sanction Sílvia Orriols.

The trigger for ERC's complaint was the altercation between Sílvia Orriols and Najat Driouech in the parliamentary session on March 26. "You should be ashamed of posting on your social media photos of seasonal workers saying they receive subsidies from the Generalitat," Driouech reproached Orriols. "You should be ashamed of normalizing misogyny and Islamic essentialism in this chamber," Orriols replied.

Sanitary Cordon Against AC

The leader of the ERC parliamentary group sought protection from the chamber's president Josep Rull. He warned the Aliança Catalana deputy for "offending" a chamber deputy. But Esquerra has taken another step and is asking to investigate Sílvia Orriols for harassment of Najat Driouech.

In fact, the can of worms was opened by Josep Rull himself. The chamber's president recently sent a letter to the deputies encouraging them to denounce hate speech in Parliament. Now ERC responds to Rull's call and requests to discipline Sílvia Orriols.

It should be noted that both ERC and Junts are part of the sanitary cordon along with PSC, Comuns, and CUP against Vox and Aliança Catalana. The prominence that Sílvia Orriols has gained in a few months, and the poor forecasts in the polls, have led these parties to intensify their offensive. They recently announced the creation of a commission to combat hate speech in Parliament.

Sílvia Orriols Responds

The Board will now have to consult the Deputies' Statute Commission to evaluate the facts. The code of conduct establishes the obligation for deputies to treat each other with respect, without discrimination based on gender, race, beliefs, or religion. It should be remembered that at least two deputies (David Cid and Agustí Colomines) have called Sílvia Orriols "Nazi" and "fascist" without consequences.

In any case, Orriols faces a sanction ranging from 600 to 12,000 euros for a minor violation of the disciplinary code. If the violation is deemed serious, the deputy could even be temporarily disqualified.

The leader of Aliança Catalana was previously sanctioned with a fine of 10,001 euros for saying that Islam is incompatible with Western values. On that occasion, the sanction was imposed by the Department of Equality and Feminisms under the direction of Tània Verge. The sanction not only did not weaken Orriols but catapulted her in the last elections.

For now, the leader of Aliança Catalana has already replied. "Well, I request to discipline Najat for displaying misogynistic and essentialist elements in the parliamentary seat," she tweeted.