Thousands demonstrated in the streets of Barcelona on Sunday to reject what they say is a “coup” being prepared by the Spanish government to pardon those involved in the 2017 secession attempt, while the left-wing Sumar platform announced plans to present a proposal to include the extraordinary pardon measure in the Spanish Constitution on Tuesday.
Waving Spanish flags, the demonstrators, who included prominent members of the main opposition party Partido Popular (PP/EPP) and the far-right VOX party, the third largest force in parliament, expressed their firm rejection of Madrid’s amnesty law.
“Not in my name: neither amnesty nor self-determination,” and “Puidgemont to prison” were some of the main slogans chanted. Carles Puigdemont is the Catalan separatist leader who, since 2017, has been on the run from the Spanish courts for his direct responsibility in the secession campaign.
However, an amnesty law and a referendum on self-determination for Catalonia are two of the main demands made by separatist parties to support the reappointment of incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D).
Organised by Societat Civil Catalana (SCC), a citizens’ initiative against the separatist movement in Catalonia, the demonstrators called on Sánchez not to give in to the demands of the centre-right separatist Junts Per Catalunya (JxCat), led by Puigdemont, and the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Republican Left of Catalonia, ERC) in the Catalan government.
The demonstration was attended by PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, with whom Sánchez will meet on Monday, VOX leader Santiago Abascal and the controversial president of the Madrid region, Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP), Feijóo’s likely future rival for the leadership of the party.
“It is not an amnesty that seeks reconciliation, what it seeks is the presidency of the government. It does not seek coexistence, it seeks an economic transaction in exchange for the presidency of the government for seven votes (of the JxCat MPs). This is logically an involution and a reactionary decision”, lamented the PP leader.
VOX took a banner to the protest with the slogan: “No to amnesty. No to Sánchez’s coup”. Slogans such as “Amnesty is not justice”, and “Illegalise separatist parties” could also be read and heard.
Returning “to Barcelona to support all Catalans who are suffering and Spaniards who are worried about what is happening” Sunday was essential, said Abascal.
Yet despite the protests, political circles in Madrid and Barcelona assume that the government will pass an amnesty law – or something very similar – probably by the end of November or before year’s end.
Last week, Sánchez admitted that to close the political wounds between Madrid and Catalonia “generosity” is required, albeit exclusively on the issue of amnesty, since the hypothesis of a referendum is excluded.
Sumar´s “generous” proposal
Meanwhile, Yolanda Díaz, leader of Sumar and a potential candidate for vice-president in Sanchez’s likely future government, announced that her party will present the conclusions of a group of experts on how an amnesty law could fit into the Spanish Constitution on Tuesday.
In line with these conclusions some of which were leaked by El País on Friday, Sumar proposes to erase the criminal liability since 2013 of all those indicted or convicted for actions whose political objective was to achieve the “self-determination of Catalonia” – a potential measure that could benefit around 5,000 people, according to Spanish media speculations.
In 2021, both ERC and JxCat proposed an amnesty law to the Spanish parliament based on this principle, although legal experts in the Chamber rejected it as unconstitutional. At the time, PSOE joined PP and VOX in rejecting the proposal, El País reported.
The conclusions of the Sumar report, which the PSOE has made clear is an exclusive initiative of Díaz’s party, are being analysed by JxCat and ERC.
Sumar wants an amnesty law or a very similar legal formula, that is not later challenged before the Constitutional Court by PP and VOX, as both parties have already announced.
According to Sumar sources, the law they are proposing, with only two points, is “simple, brief and clear”. “The more complex it is, and the more articles it has, the more chances it will have of being taken to the Constitutional Court,” the sources commented.
Would they try again?
Sumar’s proposal would involve applying the measure of grace to all “actions” or “omissions” aimed at self-determination, which includes all crimes related to the separatist movement that have been perpetrated since 2013, including the illegal referendum held in Catalonia on 9 November 2014.
The questions asked then were: “Do you want Catalonia to be a state? If yes, do you want this state to be independent?” 80.76% of voters supported Catalan independence, according to data from the regional government. However, the latest polls show a very different picture, with just 42% of Catalans who would support a hypothetical independence of the region.
However, if Spain’s left-wing approves the requested amnesty, which is highly likely, it could pave the way for Catalan separatists to launch another secessionist bid in a few years’ time.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)
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