Spain’s socialist PSOE party is “negotiating” with parliamentary groups the terms of a future amnesty law for those involved in the October 2017 secession attempt in Catalonia, acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez admitted on Thursday.
Speaking to the press before the informal European leaders meeting in Granada, Sánchez avoided speaking clearly about “amnesty” – one of the many demands put forward by Catalan separatists to back him in parliament- but admitted that PSOE is “negotiating”.
“When we approved the pardons (for several Catalan separatist leaders in June 2021), I was confident that they (the pardons) would contribute to stability and political normalisation in Catalonia. We now have the certainty that it was a good decision and was in the general interest,” Sánchez stated on Thursday.
The political “hot potato” of an amnesty law for those involved in the events of 2017, around 4,000 according to media estimates, has divided legal experts. Some believe it fits within the Spanish Constitution, while others believe the opposite.
According to El País, 22 rulings issued by the Spanish Constitutional Court would support the thesis that it is possible to approve this extraordinary amnesty law.
In addition to an amnesty law, Catalan separatist parties are demanding, among other measures, a referendum on self-determination for Catalonia. However, that possibility has already been completely ruled out by Sánchez and his future “number 2”, the leader of the progressive platform Sumar, Yolanda Díaz, Spain’s acting vice president and Labour minister.
Following the commitment reached on Wednesday between Sánchez and Díaz to agree on a joint coalition programme by the end of October at the latest, it seems clear that the Socialist leader could undergo the investiture vote in mid-November as an approximate date.
Although Sánchez and Díaz agree on the need for an amnesty law, they are still far from reaching a government agreement due to social and labour policy diverging.
For Sumar, priority should be given to reducing working hours, linking dismissal to an objective legal cause, improving family reconciliation policies and reinforcing the right to access affordable housing, among other friction points.
One of the main bones of contention is the future distribution of ministries and the political weight that Sumar can have in the future progressive executive. Diaz’s party could lose the portfolio of Equality, which, until now, has been in the hands of the controversial minister Irene Montero (Podemos).
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)
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