CAMILO S. BAQUERO. – Barcelona – 5 May 2020
Alfred Bosch, in an image in a photo archive. GIANLUCA BATTISTA
After almost two months of internal investigation, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya has decided to open disciplinary proceedings to the former counsellor of Foreign Affairs of the Generalitat, Alfred Bosch, and his former Chief of Staff, Carles Garcias, after confirming the complaints of harassment scandals in that department. Both – Garcias as the person directly responsible and Bosch for covering it up – now wait for the guarantee commission to decide whether or not to expel them from the party, after ensuring that the investigations prove “unequivocally behaviors that violate the party’s code of ethics”.
Garcias was already suspended from militancy, preventively, and Bosch was waiting to know the result of the internal investigation. The decision of the leadership, advanced by the Ara newspaper, was announced last Monday and also includes the recommendation to resort to experts outside the party to review the internal protocol on bullying “to make it more effective and thus avoid similar situations in the future” The report also recommends reinforcing the training of ERC workers and positions in the prevention of this type of cases.
The Esquerra
leadership was decisive with Bosch once the case came to light on March 10. The
then counselor left his post the same day it became known that he had attempted
to relocate Garcias into the department when he learned of his harassment of
several female employees. The former counselor ignored the complaints,
considering that they were not sufficiently substantiated – there was no formal
complaint to the authorities – and supported his then number two. Garcias was
dismissed in January.
The republicans tried to cover up the factsepublicans and
did not resort to the protocols established by the Generalitat, but wanted to
refer it as an internal case of the party. Bosch ended up resigning and was
replaced by Bernat Solé. “Things could have been done better, but Esquerra
has acted, Garcias is stopped and the victims protected. That is what must be
valued”, defended Marta Vilalta, the spokeswoman and the ERC deputy general
secretary.
Add comment