Pedro Sánchez managed to win the Parliament’s vote because of an amnesty that is generating furious reactions throughout the country
During the last few days, Spain has undergone a series of rallies as a response to the strategy held by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to secure a second term.
Indeed, as a consequence of the political fragmentation in the parliament, Sánchez needed the votes of ECR (Catalan Republican Left) and Junts (Together for Catalonia) otherwise the alternative would have been new elections.
The prime minister, belonging to the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party), had to achieve 176 votes in order to obtain the majority but his party and the leftwing Sumar alliance were able to reach only 167 votes. For this reason, he was forced to seek the missing votes among other parties by negotiating with them an agreement that involved an amnesty for those who faced legal action for the independence movement of Catalonia of 2017.
The agreement will cover the period from 1st January 2012 to 13th November 2023 revoking the penal, administrative, and financial penalties for 309 people and for 73 police officers. The amnesty is addressed to everyone incriminated with a charge related to the separatist movement except to the ones that carried out actions linked to terrorism, torture or that have resulted in death or serious injury. In particular, Carles Puigdemont, leader of Junts who orchestrated the 2017 attempt to secede, would be able to come back to Spain since he fled to Belgium after the events to avoid the arrest (The Guardian, 2023).
The decision taken by Sánchez generated a negative reaction among the Spaniards as they strongly believed that all the people who threatened the unity of Spain must face justice because their actions made Spain fall into a terrible political and territorial crisis, the worst after the fall of the Franco Dictatorship.
The oddity of this amnesty also lies in the intentions of Pedro Sánchez who, during his runup to the election, firmly opposed any act of clemency towards the separatists. For this reason, public opinion accuses him of hypocrisy since he’s putting his own political survival before the country’s interests. On the other hand, Sánchez defended himself by saying that his action is justified as his aim is to reach a stronger unity in the country by promoting dialogue and forgiveness (The New York Times, 2023).
Criticism arose from the opposition as Alberto Núñez, the conservative Popular Party’s leader, stressed the inability of the Prime Minister to keep his word highlighting his lack of moral limits.
In addition, the far-right Vox called Sánchez a “despot” accusing him of perpetrating a “coup d’etat in capital letters” encouraging people to street protests (The Guardian, 2023). Indeed, many placards displayed words as “traitor” or “separation of powers” invoking Sánchez’s resignation. The demonstrations took place throughout Spain but the biggest one occurred last Saturday when 170,000 people gathered in Madrid, with some of them were able to reach the Prime Minister’s residence, the Moncloa Palace, blocking the motorway A6 for about an hour (Reuters, 2023). Furthermore, some of the protesters led by Vox vandalized the Socialist Party’s headquarters, a demonstration that ended with a dozen arrests (The Guardian, 2023).
In the following days, the amnesty will be discussed in the Parliament and it will most probably pass because of the majority established. The opposition though has already requested the intervention of the EU denouncing an assault on the rule of law. Furthermore, the People Party, since it retains the majority in the Senate, could easily delay the law’s passage by proposing amends to it.
Bibliography
Reuters. (2023, November 19). Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/biggest-protest-spain-against-catalan-amnesty-law-draws-170000-2023-11-18/
The Guardian. (2023, November 15). Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/15/acting-spanish-pm-pedro-sanchez-on-verge-of-second-term-after-controversial-catalan-amnesty-deal
The Guardian. (2023, November 15). Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/15/what-is-the-catalan-amnesty-deal-agreed-by-pedro-sanchez
The Guardian. (2023, November 15). Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/15/pedro-sanchez-defends-catalan-amnesty-law-as-demonstration-of-strength
The New York Times. (2023, November 16). Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/world/europe/spain-pedro-sanchez-government.html
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