Jordi Pujol appears before the Catalan parliament following his confession of tax evasion

  • The former president of the Government of Catalonia for 23 years angrily answered the groups of the Parliament of Catalonia

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27.09.2014 - 09:21

La premsa lliure no la paga el govern, la paguen els lectors


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The former president of the Government of Catalonia, Jordi Pujol, who governed for 23 years, appeared before the Parliament of Catalonia after confessing that he had had 4 million euros undeclared in a bank in Andorra for 35 years. All of the parliamentary groups agreed to call on Pujol to explain this hidden money. 

The former president, now 84, made the initial half-hour intervention to explain the story of the money which, according to him, his father left him abroad ‘in case one day he had to leave’ the country [to go into exile]. He also explained who his father was, his relationship with him and the source of the money. 

The parties of the Parliament of Catalonia all asked former president Jordi Pujol to explain whether there had been any commission on public works or favourable treatment to the benefit of his party, the CDC. Gemma Calvet (ERC), Miquel Iceta (PSC), Alícia Sánchez-Camacho (PP), Joan Herrera (ICV-EUiA), Albert Rivera (C’s) and David Fernàndez (CUP) asked Pujol to explain his family’s business and the undeclared money abroad that Pujol confessed in July.

Pujol was firm about his political action as president of the Government of Catalonia. ‘The fact of having money abroad may be criticised, but it cannot be said to come from an illicit source. I can confidently say that I have not been a corrupt politician. I have never received money in exchange for an administrative or political decision. For the work I have done, I have never been paid anything apart from my salary as president.’

Pujol angrily answered the interventions of the spokespeople of the parliamentary groups, saying that he had ‘stripped himself’ before public opinion and decided to do so because he felt a ‘moral need’. He pointed out that he was under no obligation to appear in parliament and also stressed that he had appeared to explain money deposited abroad, not to answer other questions regarding his governments.

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