• During this week's meeting of the Executive Council, the Government has approved several measures related to the fight against COVID-19, such as the increase in the amount allocated to SMEs and freelancers or the leisure and extracurricular activities sector
• It has also approved the Decree-law that enables vote by mail and electronic voting in order to vote for the board of directors and the presidency of sport entities

Faced with the provisional suspension of the decree cancelling 14 February elections issued yesterday morning by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC), the Minister of the Presidency Meritxell Budó has assured that the Government does not agree with it because "the decision to postpone the elections responded to health and epidemiological criteria.” During the press conference following the weekly meeting of the Executive Council, she stated that the "health circumstances prevent us from guaranteeing the necessary conditions to develop a an electoral process freely, making it difficult for both the election campaign and the elections day.”  

The spokesperson of the Presidency has informed that the Government will defend its position as well as present allegations to the TSJC. "The decision to postpone the elections of 14 February has a solid legal basis and we are thus convinced that we can argue and legally defend the decree approved on Friday." The Minister requests to the TSJC a "quick resolution" of the appeals presented, because "every day that goes by, the electoral procedures become more difficult or delayed.”.  Budó recalled that the decree suspending the elections of 14 February "was a decision shared unanimously with all parliamentary groups in the various meetings" to be held in the framework of the dialogue table between the Government and the parliamentary groups.  

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Institutional Relations and Transparency, Bernat Solé, also spoke at the press conference and explained that the decree approved by the government was the result of a technical and legal analysis and the new elections day on 30 May was a "unanimous" agreement. He explains that the TSJC has declared this decree "temporarily ineffective", so the Government needs to reactivate the entire electoral system" in order to guarantee the right to vote "while waiting for the TSJC to be fully resolved".   

Solé emphasized that the Government "has everything ready because it has been working for months" and is now working "on a temporary basis and is focused on assuring certainty to the citizens". He communicated to the municipalities that they can already start the election of board members. The head of Foreign Affairs recalled that the Government has promoted the postal voting campaign, "an important alternative", and encouraged citizens to continue applying for the vote by mail. He concluded that the Executive "has always made the decision based on a legal basis and prioritized health criteria." Anyone who puts interests other than health ahead will need to explain it thoroughly."