Carme Forcadell

Carme Forcadell
14th President of the Parliament of Catalonia
In office
26 October 2015 – 17 January 2018
Preceded by Núria de Gispert
Succeeded by Roger Torrent
President of the Catalan National Assembly
In office
2012–2015
Succeeded by Jordi Sànchez
Member of the Parliament of Catalonia
for the Province of Barcelona
In office
26 October 2015 – 22 March 2018
Personal details
Born (1955-05-29) 29 May 1955
Xerta, Province of Tarragona Catalonia, Spain
Political party Junts pel Sí
Republican Left of Catalonia
Alma mater Autonomous University of Barcelona
Occupation Teacher, writer, politician
Signature

Maria Carme Forcadell i Lluís (born 29 May 1955) is a Spanish politician. She is the former President of the Parliament of Catalonia, as well as a Catalan high school teacher, known for her Catalan independence activism.

She was one of the founders of Plataforma per la Llengua, member of the executive board of the Sabadell branch of Òmnium Cultural and president of the Catalan National Assembly from its inception until May 2015.[1][2]

In 2015 she won a seat in the Catalan parliament as part of the Junts pel Sí coalition.[3] Subsequently, in October 2015 she was elected President of the Parliament of Catalonia, a position she held until January 2018. Since March 2018 is jailed accused of rebellion.

Background

Forcadell was born Xerta, Spain.[4][5] She is the daughter of a humble family; her father was a farmer and a truck driver. She was born in Xerta and at 18 she moved to Sabadell, where she currently lives.

Forcadell has a degree in philosophy and communication studies from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a Masters in Catalan Philology from the same university. She worked at the television station TVE Catalunya from 1979 to 1982 and with various other media organitzations. Forcadell has been a civil servant within the Catalan Department of Education since 1985, as the coordinator of linguistic normalization for the Department's Catalan Education Service since 1992, and then from 2004 on as a consultant of intercultural studies, language, and social cohesion in Vallès Occidental. She has published textbooks, books on language and literature, and a dictionary. She has been a contributing writer for various media outlets, writing about language planning, language, and identity. She is a member of the Comissió de la Dignitat (Commission on Dignity, an organization that works to have documents confiscated by the Franco regime returned to their rightful owners) and the Plataforma pel Dret de Decidir (Platform for the Right to Decide), where she is part of the communications committee.

Political career

She is a member of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and served as a city councilperson for this political party in Sabadell from 2003 to 2007.[6]

On April 22, 2012 the members of the Executive Board of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) chose Forcadell as president of the ANC. She was joined by Carles Castellanos as Vice president and Jordi Martínez as Secretary. During the summer of 2012, the ANC organized marches for independence all over Catalonia. As president of the ANC, Forcadell was one of the leading voices behind the organization of the 2012 "Catalonia, Next State in Europe" rallies and the Catalan Way in 2013. On May 17, 2014, she was reelected president of the ANC with 97% of the votes.[7] Forcadell received the 2014 Joan Blanca Prize from the city of Perpignan in recognition of her commitment to the defense of Catalan culture and identity.

On May 16, 2015 Jordi Sànchez i Picanyol succeeded her as President of the ANC, he was chosen by the members of the Executive Board despite Liz Castro being the most voted candidate.[1] The following July it was announced that Forcadell would be a candidate in the Catalan parliamentary elections to be held on September 27, running second behind Raül Romeva on the electoral list of the pro-independence coalition Together for Yes for the province of Barcelona.

President of the Parliament of Catalonia

Puigdemont voting for Declaration of Independence on 27 October 2017

On October 26, 2015 Forcadell was elected president of the Catalan parliament.[8] On November 9, 2017 Forcadell was sent to Madrid's Alcalá Meco jail, only overnight, over her role as the Speaker of the Catalan Parliament for having processed in the Parliament a bill of independenece referendum through an emergency procedure that was declared void by the Constitutional Court, violating the participation rights of the opposition parties and falsifying the publication of said project, because the secretary general of the parliament refused to process it as was unconstitutional. Also, to process the next day the Draft Law of legal transience, which sought to unilaterally break the unity of Spain.[9][10][11] On 17 January 2018, she was succeeded by Roger Torrent i Ramió.[12]

On March 23, 2018, Presidential candidate Jordi Turull, former parliament speaker Carme Forcadell and three deposed ministers were sent to pre-trial prison.[13][14] She remains jailed as of October 2018.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 "Jordi Sànchez, nou president de l'Assemblea Nacional Catalana". CCMA.cat. 16 May 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Bataller, Marc (April 30, 2012). "L'actitud hostil d'Espanya ens ajudarà a tenir estat". El Punt Avui (in Catalan). Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "Diputats electes". El Punt Avui (in Catalan). Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  4. ↑ Auto judicial con el nombre completo y fecha de nacimiento de Forcadell
  5. ↑ "Biografia - Carme Forcadell i Lluís". www.parlament.cat (in Catalan). Parlament de Catalunya. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017. Nascuda a Xerta (Baix Ebre) el 1955, viu a Sabadell (Vallès Occidental) des dels divuit anys.
  6. ↑ Minder, Raphael (November 7, 2014). "allying Catalans to the Separatist Cause". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  7. ↑ Domènech, Xavier. "De les consultes a l´Assemblea Nacional". Diari de Girona (in Catalan). Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  8. ↑ BARCELONA, RAFA JULVE / JOSE RICO / (26 October 2015). "Carme Forcadell ya es presidenta del Parlament con los votos de JxSí, la CUP y parte de Sí que es Pot". Elperiodico.com. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  9. ↑ "Spain Catalonia: Ex-parliament speaker Forcadell granted bail". BBC.
  10. ↑ La Fiscalía General se querella contra los miembros del Gobierno catalán y de la Mesa del Parlament (in Spanish)
  11. ↑ Catalan parliament speaker and four members of governing body bailed
  12. ↑ "Roger Torrent, nou president del Parlament". El Nacional (in Catalan). Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  13. ↑ Spain Catalonia: Clashes after separatist leaders detained
  14. ↑ Spain Charges 13 Catalan Separatist Leaders With Rebellion
  15. ↑ Catalan leaders remain in jail year after independence referendum
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