There was no kick to the rival’s shin that the competitors were spared. The presidential hawk, the corruption of the PP, the detailed list of statements made by Pedro Sánchez in which he denied that he would do what he later did, the old friendship of Alberto Núñez Feijóo with a Galician boss and endless others Things, none of them pleasant, came out. The socialist leader literally laughed out loud at his popular counterpart’s podium when he claimed during his failed inauguration that he wasn’t president because he didn’t want to be. The second made fun of the first and made sure that he had little more of a resume than he had as a councilor in Madrid. “No one has done more for separatism than you,” Feijóo shot at Sánchez. “Nobody at the head of the PP has done more for Vox than you,” replied the incumbent president and candidate for re-election.
There were fears about what might happen on the street on the first day of the parliamentary investiture debate, which, barring any surprise, would support Sánchez as head of the executive branch this Thursday. During the day, the ultra groups gathered only a few hundred people, who were kept away from the House of Representatives by the large police operation of 1,600 agents. Where the anger predictions were met to the millimeter was inside the chamber.
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The PP’s attack on the Catalan independents persecuted in the Procés through the amnesty law was as fierce as one could expect. And Sánchez didn’t hold back with his answer, even as he heard cries of “traitor” or “Trilero” from the people’s representatives. When the ears had not yet recovered from the fierce duel between the two leaders, Santiago Abascal came to put the icing on the cake. He reiterated his view that the passage of the amnesty law would amount to a coup and compared Sánchez to Hitler, Nero and “the greatest criminals in history.” After the President of the Congress, Francina Armengol, instructed him to withdraw these conditions, Abascal saw confirmation of his idea that democracy had disappeared in Spain and left the session with his entire group.
Aside from the battle with the right, the debate also left Sánchez with a warning about what awaits him after completing his majority with a partner as fickle and in such difficult positions as Junts. He did not like the speech of the socialist leader, which was far from the concessions to the independence language of the agreement signed last week with Carles Puigdemont’s party. And its spokeswoman, Míriam Nogueras, warned that the future government would have to earn its support “bit by bit,” although there was talk of a commitment for the entire legislature.
Spanish politics is primarily pursuing the opposite. This investiture session showed it, as did Feijóo’s failed session three weeks ago. The representative then sidestepped the idea of a government program, which is supposed to be the main reason for the candidate’s speech, and devoted himself to opposing an executive branch and a future law – the amnesty law – which were purely hypothetical at the time. Sánchez did something similar this Wednesday. He began to show his complete respect to the hundreds of thousands of people who demonstrated last Sunday alongside the PP against the future pardon measures. For a moment it seemed as if he was taking the bravest bull of the first class by the horns. But not. He immediately launched into a very long, very ideological digression about the dangers that threaten the world today and that have led to many people, from the United States to Argentina, falling into the hands of the extreme right. These “reactionary ideas” thrive because of the support of the “traditional right,” Sánchez warned. And from there it got where it wanted to go: a comprehensive memorial against the most controversial measures and pronouncements of the joint governments of PP and Vox in municipalities and city councils, from the brakes on climate protection policy to cuts in social benefits. He dedicated 40 of the 100 minutes that his speech was scheduled to last to this topic, with the aim of preparing the ground for his arguments in defense of the amnesty.
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The popular became impatient. He was only concerned with one topic and now and then rumors would circulate about his places. “Amnesty!” shouted one of his deputies. But Sánchez did not shy away and entered a proposal phase more in line with the role a presidential candidate should play. This “regressive right” faces a “progressive government” that “expands social rights” and fights against inequality. And he announced measures: free transport for young people and the unemployed, extending the VAT cut on some food products until June or strengthening the psychiatric service.
This speech ultimately led to the long-awaited defense of amnesty. The idea was to explain that pacts are necessary to continue this policy and prevent Spain from falling under the “reactionary wave”. And they demand an amnesty that is “totally legal and in accordance with the Constitution,” Sánchez assured (then Feijóo and Abascal read a series of old statements from him and members of his government defending the opposite). The candidate started from the recognition that there are a significant number of citizens in Catalonia who want to leave Spain and pointed out that there are two possible reactions to this. One taken by the PP is “the path of coercion and tension” that led to “catastrophe” and the “greatest constitutional crisis of our democracy”. The other, his, is the commitment to “dialogue and understanding” that opposes “reunification to revenge.”
Sánchez assured that the right-wing protests are not taking place because of the amnesty, but “because they do not accept the election results.” Then, in his replies to Feijóo, he even suspected that if he did not need Vox, he would have accepted the pardon measures to gain the support of Junts.
Due to the great response that last Sunday’s demonstrations caused, there is euphoria in the PP. The joy of the people was clearly visible even before their leader’s answer began, which was greeted with an ovation, as on major occasions. And as soon as he began to speak, he was accompanied by more and more enthusiastic applause. Feijóo seemed unleashed from the first minute, raising his voice much louder than usual. He started shouting a dozen “no”s in case anyone was unclear about his position. After complaining that Sánchez had “insulted” his party’s regional presidents, he accused him of “losing his mind,” “not knowing any legal or ethical boundaries,” or suffering from “a pathological ambition.” . “You didn’t get anyone’s support, you bought it,” he attacked. He again believed that the investiture in exchange for an amnesty, which was not included in the PSOE’s electoral program, constituted a “fraud” and became the spokesman for the “majority of Spaniards” to reiterate their demand for new elections. Sánchez replied sarcastically: “Why do you want to repeat it if you say you won it?” Despite everything and although the popular leader’s speech had sounded like something else until then, Feijóo finally recognized the future government of Sánchez as legitimate.
But the tough duel with Feijóo was not the most committed moment for Sánchez. Together with Nogueras, the speaker, he received the seven decisive votes for investiture. Junts had already expressed his discomfort with Sánchez’s speech, which he considered had disregarded his agreements, and even conveyed it to the PSOE’s organizing secretary, Santos Cerdán. “They have not addressed the problem as boldly as the agreement stipulated,” Nogueras snapped from the stands. And consequently he announced: “Instead of winning the stability of the legislature, he has to win it little by little.” The PSOE, explained the Junts spokesman, “has not ceased to be the party that enthusiastically accepted 155”, regardless how much she agreed with her.
Sánchez reacted palely, so as not to endanger the delicate balance with Puigdemont’s party, and barely extended his answer. He stressed that the positions of both parties are “radically different” despite their recent agreements. But he concluded with a promise to calm the anger of his interlocutors: “We will take steps during this term to finally resolve this conflict.”
For his part, Junts also had to listen to what the other Catalan independence party said. ERC spokesman Gabriel Rufián had been speaking Spanish until he switched to Catalan just to attack his former partners. He regretted that in the previous legislative session, when the ERC had already supported Sánchez, Junts had turned them into a “punching bag”, accusing them of agreeing “without consideration”, although, among other things, they achieved pardons for those convicted by the Supreme Court had . Ironically, he promised that from now on they would side with Puigdemont’s party “if the PSOE tries to deceive them, which they will try.”
Support for Sánchez came from Sumar leader Yolanda Díaz, although she had previously made clear some differences with the PSOE. Let’s start with the Catalan question and remember that the political space was once against the use of 155 and always defended pardon measures. “The amnesty strengthens democracy,” he explained. But Díaz focused his speech on economic and labor issues and also made it clear that he is distancing himself from the PSOE on the areas of taxes and housing.
It is predicted that Sánchez will be re-elected this Thursday unless the conflict with Junts brings another twist to a script that has already lasted almost four months.
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