by Luca Veronese
King Felipe VI tasked the socialist leader with forming a government, who began talks with political forces to achieve a majority. Doubts remain about Catalonia as the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) has not yet decided whether to support the government
4′ reading
It’s Pedro Sanchez’s turn, the socialist leader has taken over from Felipe VI. given the task of forming a new government. After the failure of conservative Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Sanchez will be the one to try to secure a credible majority in a highly fragmented parliament. But the votes of Sumar, the alliance that also inherited the legacy of Podemos, are not enough for Sanchez’s socialists to govern: they need the seats that the regional nationalist parties in the Canary Islands and Navarre have in Congress and won in the Senate by the Basques, and also the Independents of Catalonia.
Negotiations with the Catalans but “in the constitution”
Negotiations have been going on with the Catalan independence forces for a long time: But the Republican Left and in particular the Junts for Catalonia are demanding an amnesty for the Catalan representatives who were convicted after the attempted secession in 2017, and also want the green light to organize a new independence referendum.
“We will always do everything within the framework of the constitution, there will be transparent negotiations,” Sanchez said at the end of his conversation with the king, without ever mentioning the word amnesty. “The negotiations,” he added, “will not be easy, I hope they will take place soon, but I don’t have a date, but we will do it seriously.” The socialist leader has until November 27 to get a majority found in Parliament. If he fails, Spain will return to the vote on January 14th.
“There is no alternative to Pedro Sanchez, or rather, for Spain, elections are the only alternative to a left-wing government, but who wants to vote again now?” A long-time socialist representative, seen by many as an enemy of the current party leader, summarizes the impasse in which Spanish politics has once again landed: “It is a strange, unusual situation for those who see us from the outside, but – he says – it is more or less the same situation that We already experienced in 2019: We had to vote twice and in the end Sanchez himself managed to put together a majority for a few seats and govern for almost an entire legislative period.
He doesn’t want his name mentioned: “Why? Because everything is still in flux, you never know, these are things that have been said in the buildings of Madrid for days,” he explains and then also gives the percentages, like a political bookmaker: “A Sanchez government has at least 60 die Probability of being born is no more than 40%, but everything, as we know, depends on the Catalan independents and therefore everything is unpredictable.”
The failure of popular groups and Vox
The failure of Alberto Nunez Feijoo paved the way for Sánchez: although the leader of the Popular Party won the elections on July 23 last year, putting the Popular Party in the lead, he was unable to find votes in Parliament to form a majority. The right-wing government that Feijoo proposed together with the xenophobic nationalists of Vox dissolved before it was founded because it was impossible to form alliances with other factions.
The only remaining option is therefore a new government (coalition and minority) of the left. “It is a time of politics and generosity,” Sanchez said after receiving the government job. Regarding the Catalan question, Sanchez spoke of the need for a more “cohesive” society and that any possible decision on an amnesty for those involved in the processes for the referendum on Catalan independence organized in 2017 and declared unlawful is illegal The Spanish state will be taken over “in accordance with the constitution”.
The demands of the Catalans: amnesty and referendum
Whether the negotiations between Sanchez and the Catalan nationalists will produce results will only become apparent in the coming weeks: once again, the Republican left for Catalunya, the party of Carles Puigdemont, the former president of Catalonia, seems to be more willing to engage in dialogue than the Junts fled to Belgium in 2017 to avoid going to prison for sedition.
Sources close to the negotiations say that Sánchez is “confident and optimistic” despite the very high risks: in fact, in return for their support for the government, the Catalan nationalists are demanding an amnesty for more than a thousand representatives of Catalan parties and movements who have been condemned for doing so to have supported separation from the Spanish state. Puigdemont, who is high on the list of possible amnesties, also wants to negotiate the possibility of organizing another referendum on the region’s independence.
Sanchez could win another bet after his political parable saw him use a series of surprising and ruthless maneuvers to seize the Socialist leadership, discredit the government of the popular Mariano Rajoy and bring the country to the vote again and again in the last legislative session rule in the minority. However, Spain could face a difficult period as it has been led by a Sánchez government with a very narrow majority for four years, which is linked to the desired agreements with the Catalan parties on controversial issues such as self-determination and independence, which have divided voters in for decades Catalonia and throughout Spain: There are legal doubts about the amnesty law, and the Feijoo people have already accused Sánchez of “seeking power at all costs, endangering the rule of law.”
The doubts and the appeal to all political forces
The Catalan Socialists themselves have already stated that they are against a new referendum: “Approving a new electoral consultation in Catalonia to secede from Spain would be a big mistake, a step that would not respect the plurality of Catalan society,” said Salvador Illa . Chairman of the Catalan Socialists, while recognizing “the results achieved by Sanchez in recent years through the dialogue with Barcelona”.
“Those who defend the unity of the country are against political conflicts, they are for coexistence.” We have to bring the Catalans closer to the rest of Spain. This is the time for commitment, generosity and politics to create a stable government: I make an appeal to all political forces,” Sanchez said. The alternative for Spain is new elections in January.
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