“In the name of Spain, in the interest of Spain, in defense of coexistence between Spaniards, today I defend the amnesty in Catalonia,” Pedro Sánchez announced this Saturday before the federal committee of the PSOE, which has closed ranks with its leader, amidst great applause. “Catalonia is ready for a total reunion,” he justified, after pointing out that 80% of Catalan society supports the “path of agreement” and this new measure of grace for those prosecuted by the process, after the pardons approved in the last legislature.
“We need to continue moving forward, and to continue moving forward with a firm step we must also overcome all the episodes that divided us and leave behind the fracture experienced in 2017,” defended the leader of the PSOE.
Sánchez has acknowledged that the pardons already “raised legitimate doubts on the part of many, which I understood perfectly, and were received with extreme aggressiveness by the right.” “The grace measures were discussed, it is true. But the results are indisputable,” he defended. “In Catalonia the reunion is making its way day by day and that dynamic has strengthened those of us who work for understanding. It is expressed in surveys and is perceived on the street; It is felt in families and manifests itself in elections. The fracture is left behind and the reunion makes its way. No one can argue with it because it is evidence: not even the most recalcitrant can deny that the situation in Catalonia is infinitely better than that of 2017,” he argued.
The leader of the PSOE has highlighted that political problems must be faced with “political solutions”, and “not letting them rot in a locked drawer”. “Today Spain has a responsible government, which does not hide or look the other way when it comes to advancing with a firm step towards political normalization in Catalonia,” he stressed.
“At all times I said that the measures we took were a step in overcoming the conflict,” Sánchez said about the pardons. “But they did not represent the definitive overcoming of the conflict. They deflated the problem, but did not completely solve the problem. During the processing of the pardons, I expressly said that this was a first step, and that more steps would come,” he remarked, in reference to the amnesty.
“So we always knew that we should continue down the path of reunion, and that that would imply additional measures of grace,” Sánchez warned, although he acknowledged that “it is true that we did not plan them for now.” “We knew that definitively overcoming the conflict would require other grace measures in the future. Because you couldn’t leave that wound open indefinitely. It is true that it was not our plan for this moment. But one cannot always choose the moments in which plans are made,” he acknowledged.
Sánchez has admitted his change of position, which he justified in the result of the general elections of 23-J. “Elections change things,” he acknowledged. “The mandate of the voters forces them to opt for one of these two governments: either PP and Vox or PSOE and Sumar, with support from various forces. And there are 56 deputies who demand an amnesty to support the investiture,” he stressed.
“This measure is a condition for a government of progress and to avoid a government of the right and the extreme right. The electoral program can only be identical to the investiture program when one party wins by an absolute majority and does not require the support of any other. It is not the case. Our investiture program must incorporate demands from other groups. The right knows this well, having suddenly learned to speak Catalan in private to win an investiture. And, by the way, without having to endure the usual torrent of insults that are directed at us,” Sánchez noted in his speech.
“But an even more powerful and much more conclusive reason emerges from the elections. It is a reason of opportunity. The result in Catalonia proves that the grace measures, the pardons, have had a much greater effect on Catalan society than could be expected. And that effect has been overwhelmingly favorable for the reunion and overcoming the conflict,” defended the leader of the PSOE.
“Courage also manifests itself sometimes by making a virtue of necessity,” he said. “Of necessity, virtue: because this is the only possible way for there to be a government in Spain and not give Feijoo and Abascal a second chance to form a government that would set us back decades in just a few years,” he alleged. “A virtue of necessity, above all, because I am certain that it will contribute to political normalization in Catalonia,” he insisted.
Sánchez has shown himself determined to promote the amnesty: “We must do it. With the certainty that its fit, as we socialists will propose, will be fully constitutional. With the conviction that it is a tool used in countries around us. And I am referring to consolidated democracies such as Portugal, Germany, Italy or the United Kingdom. With the will to look forward and close, once and for all, the still open wounds of a conflict that should not have occurred.” “With the determination to advance the normalization of the political situation in Catalonia. And with the value of recent experience, which accredits the success of the steps we have taken so far.”
The leader of the PSOE has warned, in any case, that “the amnesty is not an end in itself, nor is it the end of the road.” “It is a means to advance on the path of harmony and reunion between Catalans. It is the way to advance political normalization in the relationship between Catalonia and Spain.” “Once again we are faced with a debatable step and I perfectly understand those who, from the pain of memories, feel a tear. But it is our responsibility to give it, because we cannot allow the past to close the doors of the future to us.” And he has demanded the support of the PSOE to take this step. “I am convinced that it will be worth it, and we do not do it alone.” “There is a large majority in Parliament that supports this initiative and that asks us to move in this direction. And there is an overwhelming majority in Catalan society that wants to turn the page,” he highlighted.
“Our history teaches us that it is with agreements and generosity that our country and our democracy are stronger. With the pardons first and now with the amnesty we will make many Catalans feel more identified with our common project,” Sánchez defended. “It is our responsibility to do so,” he stressed.
After this federal committee, the question that will be asked of the socialist militancy includes, as Sánchez himself announced on Friday, both the government agreement with Sumar and the eventual pacts that can be reached with Junts and ERC, and the rest of the groups. essential parliamentarians for the investiture – EH Bildu, the PNV and the BNG or even the Canarian Coalition -, even before they are known. “Do you support the agreement to form a government with Sumar and obtain the support of other political formations to achieve the necessary majority?” reads the question that will be submitted for consultation to the bases of the PSOE and the PSC. The consultation with the militancy will last a week and can be voted electronically and also in person next Saturday, November 4 at all the headquarters of the socialist groups in Spain.
The PSOE leadership already assumed, before starting the federal committee, that the only significant “dissent” is that of the president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, who forcefully rejects the amnesty. “We are alone? We are also left alone with the absolute majority,” they reply in the socialist federation of Castilla-La Mancha, in ironic reference to the fact that Page is already the only regional president of the PSOE who has an absolute majority in Spain. The militancy of this territory and many others, they say, is mostly opposed to the amnesty for those prosecuted by the process, but they recognize that the formulation of the question to the bases will prevent discrimination between support for the agreement with Sumar and rejection of the amnesty that Sánchez negotiates with Junts and ERC. “In the rest of Spain it is not understood,” they denounce.
