The first session of the debate on Pedro Sánchez’s third inauguration gives a glimpse of what the legislature will look like: very angry, both inside and outside Congress. The socialist candidate requested the vote in opposition to the “reactionary” model of the PP and Vox, the description of which took up most of his speech. The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, took advantage of Sánchez’s change of position regarding the amnesty and expected constant mobilization on the streets. What follows is an analysis of the interventions of both politicians, full of contradictions and messages between the lines.
Speech by Pedro Sanchez
“In the name of Spain and in defense of harmony between Spaniards We will grant amnesty to those who are prosecuted for this Processes. It is a measure demanded by a very important part of Catalan society, approved by 80% of its political representatives as well as a large majority of the forces present in this chamber, and which may not be shared by many citizens. I am very aware of this and would like to say that I greatly respect your opinions and feelings, but the circumstances are what they are and we must make a virtue of necessity for the sake of the general interest.”
Sánchez cited the elephant in the room, “amnesty,” as he spoke for nearly an hour and a half in the congressional gallery. That was the most complicated part of his story, because until last July’s general election he had disputed the constitutionality of the measure and boasted that the independents had failed to pass it. As he did last October in the Federal Committee of the PSOE, Sánchez admitted that the amnesty was a toll that had to be paid to stay in government: “The circumstances are what they are and it is time to get out of it Not to make a virtue,” he said At the same time, it tried to justify the “general interest” underlying the law and the pacts necessary for its implementation by rejecting the alternative, that is, the reproduction of the autonomous pacts of PP and Vox at the national level, which he described several times during his speech as a “reactionary wave”.
“Nothing we are experiencing is unprecedented in our democracy. Everything was previously carried out by the People’s Party governments, which granted 1,400 pardons in a single day. Terra Lliure members convicted of terrorism during an investiture have been pardoned. What a scandal, Mr. Feijóo! Those who issue proclamations and slogans saying that all of Spain should mobilize against this evil Sánchez have given numerous powers to the autonomous governments of the Basque Country and Catalonia when they needed the voices of Catalan and Basque nationalism, and as far as I know, none “One of these concessions has weakened Spain. It has neither corrupted our democracy nor are we moving towards a dictatorship.”
“Others have done it, and before me,” said Sánchez, recalling, in defense of the amnesty law, that PP governments had approved pardons of those in power, such as the 1,400 pardons granted by the executive of José María Aznar in a single day granted in December 2000. As for the pardons of the Catalan terrorist organization Tierra Lliure, they were approved during the first PP government in 1996, but it was the previous socialist executive chaired by Felipe González that launched them: in fact, it was one of the last Pardons Measures signed by the then incumbent PSOE Cabinet but not put into effect because when the powers were transferred to the pardon file, the administrative procedure was not initiated and not published in the Bulletin State Official. As Sánchez recalled, the Popular Party agreed to a transfer of power when it needed the votes of Basque and Catalan nationalists for the inauguration. For example, in 1996 Aznar transferred transport powers to Catalonia, the transfer of the management of ports of general interest to the autonomies and the reform of land and coastal laws.
“Coexistence has returned to the streets, dialogue has returned to the institutions (…) What do the vast majority of citizens prefer: the Catalonia of 2017 or the Catalonia of 2023? “This level of grace can help us overcome the breach.”.
Sánchez used the same argument for the amnesty that he used to justify the trial’s pardons: pacification and coexistence. However, he ran into a double contradiction: on the one hand, according to his own account, Catalonia was already pacified before the investiture, but on the other hand, the political and social tensions have not disappeared, but have changed location: from Catalonia to the massive protest demonstrations to which the PP called in the Spanish capitals and those that took place in front of the PSOE headquarters in Madrid without prior authorization and with the support of Vox.
“The PP decided to bless the far right and opened the doors to five regional governments, five councils and 135 city councilors. It gave him the power to influence the lives of more than 12 million Spaniards (…) We have to decide whether we want to further promote the dignity of work, the empowerment of women, respect for sexual diversity, the integration of the migrant population (…) or support the prophets of hate “They want to lock women in kitchens, LGBTBI people in closets and migrants in refugee camps.”
Sánchez devoted most of his first speech and his reply to Feijóo to presenting his inauguration bloc as an alternative to the pacts of the right and the far right, that is, the candidate for the presidency of the Spanish government presented himself as an oppositionist or oppositional containment dam of the two-part regional leaders of PP and Vox, their actions and ideology. Thus, the socialist leader recalled that the ultra-members of the Popular Party deny gender violence and climate change and accused Feijóo of being the PP leader who has most favored the advance of the extreme right in Spain. Although he has governed since the 2018 no-confidence motion, Sánchez has also repeatedly drawn on the legacy of Mariano Rajoy’s governments, for example when it came to the cuts that are burdening the welfare state.
“Today in this Chamber we will listen to and follow the will of the Spanish people, expressed through their representatives and recognized in our Constitution. What is said in this room today and tomorrow has the highest legitimacysince it is about the democratic will of the citizens of our country, which is expressed with their voice.”
After several weeks of PP and Vox questioning the legitimacy of the government that emerged from this investiture debate, Sánchez regained his majority after the failed attempt by Feijóo, who did not receive the necessary votes to be sworn in as president last September. . The socialist leader, in his response to the head of the People’s Party, mocked the PP’s approaches to the PSOE – “repealing Sanchismo” – and to Junts, a party that now demonizes it. Also from the phrase: “I’m not president because I don’t want to be”, which Feijóo has repeated in recent months to highlight his rejection of the independents’ demands, ignoring that he would not have accepted them even if if he had decided to accept them Enough votes for the inauguration as he would lose support. by Vox.
Speech by Alberto Núñez Feijóo
“This investiture arose from a fraud. What is before the House of Representatives today was not voted on in the election. (…) It is an exercise in political corruption. Making decisions against the public interest in exchange for personal gain has no other name. (…) He didn’t support anyone. “He bought it by signing checks that we will all pay.”
After quoting statements from Sánchez in which he assured that he would never reach an agreement with Bildu, that he would never accept the amnesty and that he would return Puigdemont to Spain so that he would be held accountable by the judiciary, he insisted Feijóo pointed out, as all PP leaders would have done, that the inauguration of the socialist leader, despite having the necessary votes, is an electoral fraud, since the amnesty was not included in the program with which the PSOE presented itself in the elections. This is true. PP voters also did not opt for the party’s post-election pacts with the far right or for raising all taxes after the 2011 elections, after Mariano Rajoy’s campaign promise to cut them all. None of this makes popular-led governments illegitimate.
“I know that the resignation of the Spanish people is needed. You won’t have this quiet Spain. You’ll have to listen to it in the seats. Like last Sunday. (…) Let’s talk about living together, we already see that Spain is enchanted. If the amnesty is so good for coexistence, why wasn’t it approved earlier? “You have been in power for five years.”
Feijóo made it clear what his main weapon in resisting the government will be: the streets. He claimed the success of the protests called by the PP across Spain last Sunday, refuting the argument of pacification and improvement of coexistence with which Sánchez defends the amnesty law. The leader of the Popular Party also recalled the old guard of the PSOE who opposed the measure, including Felipe González, Alfonso Guerra and Nicolás Redondo.
“There is no ideological majority in this coalition, unless Junts buried all of CiU’s remains or the PNV decided to trade the tractor for the hammer and sickle. (…) What do we do with Podemos? Do we give him a service? What do you think, Ms. Montero? Given the good performance she has achieved in the area of equality, she will step down as Minister for Equalities.”
The president of the PP denied that the coalition of parties supporting Sánchez’s inauguration could be described as a progressive or left-wing coalition. He referred to Junts, the former Convergence, and the PNV, a liberal economic party, anticipating the discrepancies that could exist in this bloc since some government measures, such as the tax on energy companies or banks, cause distrust among Basque nationalists. The opposition leader also did not miss the unrest of Podemos within Sumar and the fact that Irene Montero will not appear again as Minister of Equality after the failure of the “Only Yes is Yes” law, which had to be changed in Parliament collegial decision of the Council of Ministers.
“They have come to insult everyone, including those who are no longer alive: President Fraga, President Aznar, President Rajoy… Yes, I know they would prefer these two not to be alive, but they are. They came to insult the regional presidents, especially Ayuso and her family (…).”
Feijóo raised the tone in his response to Sánchez by several decibels, even accusing him of preferring to see former presidents Aznar and Rajoy dead. The leader of the PP, who in his first speech as party leader in April 2022 promised “the “to free Spanish politics from confrontation and constant exaggeration,” because “moderation,” as he said, “does not mean lukewarmness,” he suggested. that the next thing could be a self-determination referendum – the agreement between the PSOE and the Junts does not provide for this – a new amnesty if the independents repeat the coup, if the crimes, he explained, have not already been “eliminated from the country” be the criminal code or an “ETA amnesty”. “What is the covert pact with Mr. Otegi?” he asked. He also defended Ayuso, who was referred to several times in the debate and whom Sánchez described as “the intellectual leader of the PP”, i.e. .
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