The political amnesty demanded by Catalan pro-independence parties for those prosecuted over the failed illegal referendum on self-determination held in October 2017 is constitutional and can be granted, the spokesman for the left-wing bloc Sumar, Ernest Urtasun, said on Thursday.
In an interview aired by Spanish public radio station RNE, Urtasun insisted that the leader of centre-right Partido Popular (PP/EPP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has no chance of being invested as prime minister and regretted that the conservative politician is wasting “precious time” which, in his opinion, Feijóo will use to “stop his internal leadership crisis”.
According to Sumar, the only alternative after the general election on 23 July, which the PP won but fell far short of the required majority, is a new progressive government of the Socialist Party (PSOE/S&D) and the Left Bloc, supported mainly by Catalan and Basque pro-independence forces.
In a move to reassure those who think the acting prime minister and socialist candidate, acting prime minister Pedro Sánchez, could be “tempted” to explore alternatives beyond the legal framework, the Sumar spokesperson and MEP pointed out that amnesty is a different legal concept to pardon and is “the fastest and most complete way”, he stated.
When people talk about amnesty, “they always think of (former Catalan regional president and JuntsXCat leader) Carles Puigdemont”, who is on the run from Spanish justice in Waterloo, near Brussels, despite the many (some Spanish media speak of more than 3,000) who have cases pending against them, Urtasun insisted in the interview.
The legal proceedings to which Urtasun refers relate to the illegal referendum on self-determination for Catalonia held on 1 October 2017.
The Catalan ‘Gordian knot’: a headache
However, the referendum of 2017 has created quite a complex political Gordian knot, which would be hard for any government to unravel.
Spain is a highly decentralised country, with some experts even speaking of a quasi-federal system. It is organised into seventeen Autonomous Communities, made up of fifty provinces and two autonomous cities. The regions have many competencies and policies transferred to them by the central state.
For Catalonia, the Spanish state has so far granted 189 competencies. The region also has its own statute (Estatuto de Autonomía), as reflected in the Spanish Constitution of 1978.
Catalan centre-right pro-independence Junts per Catalunya (JxCAT) and Catalan separatist Izquierda Republicana de Cataluña (Republican Left of Catalonia, ERC) demand a new investiture led by PSOE’s Sánchez, an amnesty for all those prosecuted in 2017, and a referendum on self-determination for the prosperous Spanish region.
These are “red lines” that, in principle, neither Sánchez nor Sumar, his potential ally in a future coalition government if Feijóo fails to reach an absolute majority, are unwilling to cross, as they have stressed that they will always remain within the framework of the Spanish Constitution.
But not everyone in Catalonia’s 7.6 million‐strong region appears in favour of independence, as a 2022 survey places the support for independence below 40%.
According to the opinion poll by the Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials (ICPS) of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 53.2% of Catalans would vote ‘no’ in a hypothetical independence referendum, while 39% would vote ‘yes’, El Periódico de Catalunya has reported.
PP’s ‘desperate’ request
In the same RNE interview, Urtasun commented ironically on the appeal made by the deputy secretary of the PP, Borja Semper, to all PSOE deputies who do not feel comfortable with the fact that an investiture of Sánchez depends now on the seven votes of JuntsxCat, to vote for Núñez Feijóo.
“Asking the socialists to lend their votes is ridiculous and desperate”, Urtasun said.
A view that was echoed by acting Finance Minister María Jesús Montero and the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños.
The PP’s request demonstrates, in Urtasun’s opinion, that the investiture of Núñez Feijóo “is going straight to failure” but also that the PP “is isolated, has no capacity for agreement or dialogue with the political forces that represent the plurality of the country”. Feijóo “is internally questioned”, he added.
The PP announced that Núñez Feijóo would begin a first formal round of contacts with all political groups on 28 August, except Basque pro-independence EH Bildu, in an attempt to form a majority, as he currently does not have sufficient votes to be elected prime minister.
The PP leader has so far gathered 172 seats, PP’s 137, 33 of the far-right VOX (ECR) party, with which he governs in various Spanish regions, one of the regional Coalición Canaria party and another of centre-right Unión del Pueblo Navarro (UPN).
PP sources admit that it is “complicated” to reach a majority but insist that “it is not impossible”.
Although they have attempted a rapprochement with the pro-independence Basque (centre-right) Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), they have not succeeded.
The PNV spokesman in parliament, Aitor Esteban, said that if Núñez Feijóo calls him, he is ready to meet the PP leader “out of courtesy” but made it clear that the Basque party will not participate “in combinations (of government) in which VOX is present”, Basque daily El Correo reported.
If neither of the two candidates achieves the necessary support, since the official clock for the investiture has already been set in motion, Spain would probably have to hold new elections on 14 January 2024.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)
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