2023-10-28 12:00:29
The acting president of the Government and PSOE candidate for the investiture, Pedro Sánchez, has explicitly defended an amnesty law for all those involved in the celebration of the referendum and the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia in 2017. “In the name of Spain, in the interest of Spain, in defense of coexistence between Spaniards, today I defend the amnesty in Catalonia for the events that occurred in the last decade,” he said before the Federal Committee of his party held this Saturday, the highest body of political training between congresses.
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Sánchez has maintained his defense of the amnesty based on the need to form “a Government of progress” in the face of the “regression” that a coalition between Feijóo and Abascal would imply and also to definitively close the political fracture experienced in Catalonia with the process. “Catalonia is ready for total reunion, the representatives of more than 80% of Catalans support this measure. And it will definitely contribute to the political normalization of Catalonia,” he stated.
The president has made no secret of the fact that he adopts a decision of such political importance, prompted by the political circumstances and the parliamentary arithmetic that emerged from the polls on July 23. “This is the only possible way for there to be a government in Spain and not give Feijóo and Abascal a second chance to form a government that would make us go backwards,” he stressed to recognize that the amnesty was not part of the PSOE’s plans in the short term. term despite its commitment to the definitive normalization of politics in Catalonia.
“We always knew that we had to continue down the path of reunion and that this would imply additional measures of grace. That’s how I defended it with the pardons, I said that they were a first step and that more would be needed. We did not plan it for now, it was not our plan for this moment, but in politics you cannot always choose the moments. Courage also manifests itself sometimes by making a Spanish saying come true: making a virtue out of necessity,” he said.
Regarding the change in position of the PSOE in general and his own in particular regarding an amnesty law that until now they had denied in both the Moncloa and Ferraz, he has justified the push at this time based on the electoral result. “Has something changed in reality that justifies a change on our part? The answer is simple: yes. “The elections of July 23.”
The candidate for the investiture has openly explained that the support of the Catalan parties for his re-election as president inevitably passes through the amnesty law. “There are 56 deputies who demand an amnesty to support the investiture. It is a condition for there to be a government of progress. The electoral program can only be identical to the investiture program when a party obtains an absolute majority. But this is not the case, and our government program must include demands from other political groups, as the right knows, which learned early to speak Catalan in private,” he said, referring to the agreements between José María Aznar’s PP and the CIU by Jordi Pujol.
In the midst of the applause from the socialist leadership and the ministers and territorial leaders who attended this Saturday’s call to support the acting president, Pedro Sánchez wanted to emphasize that the amnesty law will have full legal compliance despite the complaints from the right, which has announced an appeal to the Constitutional Court even before any details of the rule are known.
“This is the moment, we must do it with the certainty that the adjustment, as we socialists propose, will be fully constitutional,” he defended before remembering that it is a recurring political instrument in other European democracies.
Pedro Sánchez concluded his speech with a direct request to the leadership of his party, whom he asked in search of the political support necessary to carry out a measure of such magnitude. “I ask for your support and trust because I am sure it will be worth it. As so many other times in the history of Spain, it is up to us, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party, to assume the responsibility of pulling the wagon and opening paths for the future.”
With the amnesty law, he added, Spain will achieve, in his opinion, “that many Catalans feel more identified with our common project: that of a plural Spain that recognizes its diversity and that of a democracy that integrates again and again and that works to erase the resentment.”
Consultation with the militancy
The Federal Committee of the PSOE will also approve the question that will be asked of the militancy to endorse the Government agreement reached with Sumar, as indicated in the statutes, and will also include a generic reference to the rest of the agreements necessary for the investiture. .
“Do you support the agreement to form a coalition government with Sumar and achieve the parliamentary support of other political formations to achieve the necessary majority?” This is the wording that Pedro Sánchez will submit to the opinion of the members in a vote that may be online or in person in the party groups until next Saturday, November 4.
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