“The program that we are going to carry out, which is the program of our left-wing coalition, contains above all a part that we can call reparations and sanctions for past events, which consist mainly of amnesty, of reparations due to those who have suffered political persecution, in the investigation and purification of the abuses and legal excesses that occurred and that are verified by the appropriate organs of power due to the political events of 1934.
”We have obtained from the Permanent Deputation of the previous Parliament a legal text, in general terms, that has already been applied; but it is worth telling the Government that this legal text is not enough for us and that soon, as soon as the debate that begins with this ministerial declaration is finished, the Government will present a complementary amnesty law, covering all those points that interest the parties that we represent in the can.”
With these words Manuel Azaña began the presentation of his Government program before the Congress of Deputies on April 15, 1936. Called to form a new Executive by the President of the Republic, Niceto Alcalá-Zamora, on February 19, his The first decision was to present a decree law of amnesty for those accused or sentenced for the different political and social events that have occurred since October 1934.
Before the Cortes were constituted, since the count of the elections held on the 16th had not even been completed, the president of the Council of Ministers processed before the Permanent Deputation of Congress the brief drafting of the decree, which was to guarantee a minimum social peace. at a time of maximum tension and altercations in numerous cities. That was one of the mandates with which the Popular Front had presented itself to the electoral event.
That the process was accelerated in this way was largely due to the decision of Manuel Portela Valladares to resign as president of the Council of Ministers that same day the 19th due to the magnitude of the pressure in the streets. Alcalá-Zamora accepted it and faced with the powers he had as President of the Republic to entrust the government to the leader of the Popular Front despite the complaints of irregularities in the electoral process by the conservative formations.
Convened by telegraph the day before, 18 of the members of the Permanent Deputation of Congress met on February 21, meeting the required quorum, to approve the text. It was unanimous, since although both the representative of the right-wing CEDA, Manuel Giménez Fernández, and the socialist Francisco Largo Caballero, disagreed regarding the temporal scope of the extraordinary measure and the classification of the forgiven crimes, they did not hesitate to vote for favor.
The measure was followed by other decrees that would be published in the Madrid Gazette two days later: the appointments as military commanders of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands of generals Francisco Franco and Manuel Goded, who had participated in the repression of the Asturian Revolution of 1934. and now they were separated – at least geographically – from the General Headquarters.
It is estimated that about 30,000 people benefited from the amnesty, which began to be applied the day after the approval of the decree law. The majority were workers who had stopped going to work or had participated in protests or sabotage, but also the Government of the Generalitat after the proclamation of the Catalan Republic by Lluís Companys. On March 1, a decree restored the president and the councilors to their functions.
The brief presentation of the decree law, which the Government later developed in the form of a law, corresponded to the Minister of Justice, Antonio Lara, who presented the text signed by Azaña and briefly argued the need for its approval for the restitution of public order, advancing that This exceptional emergency measure would be supported by a specific amnesty law on which the new Government was already working. It is the text that we offer in full.
“The significance of the result of the elections of deputies to Cortes being unequivocal in terms of the granting of an amnesty for political and social crimes, in favor of which the majority of the electoral body has spoken, and being a pacification measure, convenient to the public good and the tranquility of national life, in which all political sectors are equally interested, The Government submits the following decree law to the approval of the Permanent Deputation of the Cortes:
Unique item. Amnesty is granted to those convicted and prosecuted for political and social crimes. Included in this amnesty are the councilors of the municipalities of the Basque Country convicted by a final sentence. The Government will report to the Cortes on the use of this authorization.”
“As the preamble of the decree itself expresses, the purpose to which it responds is very clear. The Government has understood, indeed, that the ruling of the suffrage, I will not say unanimous, because it was not, but a large majority, has meant and occurred in the sense that this political measure was carried out.
”The Government has also encountered a state of mind and public atmosphere that repeatedly asked, and in many clamorous terms, that if this measure was to be taken, it should be taken as quickly as possible.
”The Government, in view of that, has had to arbitrate a legal instrument that would allow it to satisfy that aspiration, and has believed that this instrument could be fitted within article 80 of the Constitution.
”For this, he has sought the assistance of the President of the Republic, which is not enough for him; It also needs permanent deputation to the Cortes; and I believe that, without it being necessary to make special arguments, it is perfectly clear, in the opinion of the Government, the need for this measure, of which those affected by it must naturally be direct beneficiaries, but that the Government understands that it has to also benefit public peace, coexistence and a situation that the Government is very eager to reach, leaving aside all other considerations.
”If the gentlemen of the permanent deputation want special reports for other reasons, I will not be able to give them more than episodic things. Ultimately, this is the purpose of the decree law.”
