Spain: Ahead of his inauguration, Pedro Sanchez defends amnesty for Catalan separatists
While Pedro Sanchez's inauguration is scheduled for Thursday, November 16, the debate began the day before in the Cortes, the lower house of Parliament, amid great tension in the streets and the media. Much of Spain is opposed to an amnesty law, which is intended to benefit Catalan separatist leaders.
Socialist Pedro Sanchez in front of the Cortes, the lower house of the Spanish Parliament, on November 15, 2023. AP - Manu Fernandez
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In his one-hour and forty-five-minute policy speech, the Socialist leader insisted on the legality of the agreement. This law is perfectly in line with the Constitution. Pedro Sánchez has hammered home this phrase and this idea many times in the lower house of the Spanish Parliament.
According to him, the amnesty law, the first since 1977 and which benefited Franco's leaders, would be a model of legality. It will mean a total pardon for all crimes committed by Catalan separatist leaders since 2012 until now, especially those of embezzlement of public funds to organise an illegal referendum, reports our correspondent in Madrid, François Musseau.
« The Path of Dialogue and Forgiveness »
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We will guarantee the unity of Spain through dialogue and forgiveness ", declared the Socialist leader, who had to concede this amnesty to the Catalan parties in exchange for their essential support for his re-election in power during a vote of confidence scheduled for Thursday.
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Circumstances are what they are, and necessity must be made a virtue " admitted Pedro Sanchez, who was opposed to such a measure, which deeply divides Spanish society, until the eve of the general elections on 23 July. But "amnesty can help us overcome the rift that has opened up in Catalonia," whose attempted secession six years ago was "the biggest institutional crisis" Spain has experienced, he said, since the end of Franco's dictatorship in 1975.
Once passed, this law will allow Carles Puigdemont, leader of the secession attempt, to return to Spain, six years after fleeing to Belgium to escape prosecution.
There is also a very important argument as to why we are going to support this amnesty. This pardon can help us finally heal the divide that opened on October 1, 2017. It can allow us to reconcile our positions and persuade the Catalans who feel they are pro-independence, as well as those in other territories who feel they are pro-independence, and although our country is a good country for them too, Catalonia is ready for full reconciliation and we must have the courage to take a step forward. The amnesty we are proposing is completely legal, it respects the Constitution. Moreover, it is a measure that applies in other countries: in France, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom or a few months ago in Portugal. And the Spanish Constitutional Court has initialled it before. That is why I am calling on the People's Party to show a minimum of responsibility. While the People's Party still considers itself to be a state party, it cannot act under the dictates of a far-right organisation as we have seen in recent days.
01:08
Pedro Sánchez defends amnesty for Catalan separatists
François Musseau
PP and Vox "don't accept the election result
»The socialist called on the right-wing opposition, which brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets on Sunday, to show "responsibility". "Either Spain is moving forward, or it is going backwards with the prophets of hatred," Sánchez said.
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The Problem of the People's Party (PP), the main right-wing party, and the far-right party "Vox is not amnesty, the problem of the PP and Vox is that they do not accept the electoral result" of the legislative elections in July, said the socialist leader, who has been in power in Spain since 2018.
Having come out on top in this election, ahead of the Socialists, the PP did not manage to come to power with Vox due to a lack of sufficient support in Parliament. Tabled in the Chamber of Deputies on Monday by the Socialists, the amnesty bill concerns all crimes committed "with the intention of demanding, promoting or obtaining the secession or independence of Catalonia", particularly in 2017.
01:16
Protest in front of the Parliament against the amnesty of Catalan separatists - report
François Musseau
Read alsoSpain: Pedro Sanchez in front of MPs to be re-elected
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