After saving his presidency against the odds, amid very strong pressure and attacks from the right, and also internal misunderstandings in the PSOE due to investiture pacts with Catalan independence that include the controversial amnesty law for those accused of the process , Pedro Sánchez hugged José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero yesterday to sing victory, claim together and celebrate “four more years of progressive government”.
Once re-elected president, and after his tour of the Middle East, the leader of the PSOE received a good bath from the socialist masses, in front of nearly 10,000 supporters gathered at the Ifema in Madrid. It was an act of absolute closing of ranks, with ex-president Zapatero, in which the defense of the amnesty was reaffirmed, despite its difficult digestion in some socialist sectors. And the firm position regarding the conflict between Israel and Hamas was also ratified, despite the new diplomatic clash with Benjamin Netanyahu. And taking into account the harsh criticism, triggered by the two questions, of the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
Sánchez justified the amnesty, thanks to which he obtained the indispensable support for his investiture from Junts and ERC, while the right-wing protest “for a risk that does not exist, because Spain will not break”, he said. “With this transcendent decision of Spanish democracy, such as the approval of an amnesty law, even those who mobilize against it will benefit, because they will live in a more cohesive country, with more coexistence and more united than ever”, guaranteed Sánchez, in view of the protests of the PP and the attacks of the ultra-right against the headquarters of the PSOE throughout Spain.
The event was also a tribute to Zapatero, who, unlike Felipe González and other patriarchs of the old guard, was deeply involved in the electoral campaign of the PSOE, which managed, against the odds, to prevent a PP government and Vox
The former Spanish president endorsed the amnesty and criticized that the PP will appeal to the Constitutional Court, as it already did with the laws on homosexual marriage and abortion. “Everything they don’t like is unconstitutional”, he lamented. But he assured that the amnesty “is a law that looks to the future, a strong Spain and that we share Catalonia”.
Over time, he predicted, it will be claimed that under the Sánchez government “an amnesty law was approved that opened the door to stability, to normalization, to coexistence in Catalonia and to a better, more integrated Spain and cohesive”. Just as, he said, ETA “surrendered” under his mandate.
Sánchez also reaffirmed his position regarding Israel and Hamas, after opening the door on Friday to Spain recognizing the Palestinian State unilaterally. “Condemning the vile terrorist attacks by a terrorist group like Hamas, and at the same time condemning the indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, is not a matter of political parties, nor of ideology, it is a matter of humanity,” he cried.
“The right of defense can never include innocent victims, children and civilians. Never! Killing is just killing!” said former president Zapatero, supporting him.
