Spain is rapidly entering an
authoritarian slide unprecedented in its recent constitutional history
.
If the bill and the amendments agreed upon by the Government on sedition, embezzlement and the judiciary are approved as expected, the country is facing a gloomy scenario.
No pro-government argument is capable of supporting this institutional deterioration.
Ours is configured as a country in which
the perpetuation of the president in power legitimizes ca
if any damage
.
And something more dangerous: in a country where the government ostentatiously pursues this sweeping policy, changing rules and deactivating basic controls of democracy with urgency,
without counting on the reports of advisory bodies
such as the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) or the Council of State.
The constitutional attack is threefold.
In the first place is the suppression of the crime of
sedition
, which will reduce the coup committed in Catalonia to a mere crime of public disorder.
The most serious aspect of this legal modification is not only its content, but also the fact that the Government agrees with Oriol Junqueras.
After pardoning them, the PSOE and Podemos agree to reduce their crime.
If this arbitrary use of power to favor its members was not enough, yesterday ERC presented an amendment to reduce the penalties for
embezzlement
.
The objective is to reduce the cost of sentencing those who improperly use public money if it does not end up in their pocket.
Again, the
maximum beneficiaries will be Junqueras
, who will be able to stand in the next Catalan elections, and Sánchez, who thus strengthens the block that supports him.
The loser is the general interest
.
The leader who wrapped himself in the banner against corruption to justify the motion of no confidence with which he arrived in Moncloa now puts the law at the service of the corrupt.
Corrupt with names and surnames, with and for whom he legislates in order to stay in power.
Third, the new assault on the judiciary to
ensure an obedient Constitutional Court now
It supposes an indefensible interference in the organism called to control the powers of the State.
The Executive has decided to reduce the three-fifths majority necessary for the CGPJ to designate its two candidates.
Now a simple majority will suffice under a twisted formula that requires the Government to secure another similar magistrate.
They also look
possible criminal responsibilities for the members
.
And it is no less serious that the placet is eliminated so that the Constitutional Court can verify the suitability of the new magistrates: it is intended that the political power appoint them without submitting to any control.
The absolutely exceptional formula of legislating on such sensitive issues through bills and amendments gives the measure of a Government with increasingly authoritarian overtones willing to
skip all the basic consensus and hand over our rule of law to those who want to dismantle it
.
Today an alternative majority is needed more than ever to correct this illiberal drift and redirect the country along the path of consolidated democracies.
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