The Interior commission on Tuesday points to a black day between the Government and part of the investiture partners. The PSOE and Unidas Podemos have the text of the reform of the gag law that will be voted on and the discontent of formations such as ERC, Junts and EH Bildu is more than evident after nearly 50 meetings without achieving that their conditions are contemplated : the rejections of migrants at the border or direct returns, the suppression of the use of rubber bullets, and the elimination of article 37.4 on disrespect for police authorities, in addition to requesting clarifications on disobedience to a norm that was coined by the PP in 2015. The Government needs at least the abstention of some of these three pro-independence parties, but ERC is willing to vote against and drop the reform if there are no last-minute changes.
Esquerra already warned seriously at the beginning of February. His position is firm, according to spokeswoman Marta Vilalta. “ERC cannot assume a reform that falls short. We will not endorse what we prohibited ten years ago in Catalonia, such as the use of rubber balls. We are surprised that Podemos and the commons do. Respect for human rights does it prevail more in one chamber than in another? It is unjustifiable”, he criticized this midday.
Republican sources point out that throughout the fifty meetings, neither the PSOE nor Unidas Podemos “have shown any kind of willingness to eliminate these three points. For the formation led in Madrid by Gabriel Rufián, these are the three aspects that precisely make that the Citizen Security Law receives the appellation of gag law.
ERC is not willing to vote in favor of a reform that maintains rubber bullets, when they were banned in Catalonia for the Mossos d’Esquadra in 2013. Hot returns are another red line that they are not willing to consent to. And as far as disrespect is concerned, the Republicans state that disobedience is already contemplated in the Penal Code. The difference is that in the latter case the penalty would be handed down after a judicial process; With these offenses included in the gag law, the sanction is imposed with the simple “discretion and arbitrariness” of the police officers, relying on their presumption of truth.
Vilalta has reproached the Socialists for being “accustomed to breaking agreements”, since, as he recalled, the PSOE and Unidas Podemos promised to repeal the rule, as in the case of this law that the PSOE “claimed to want to repeal”. It is a reform that lacks ambition with regard to the “defense of fundamental rights in protests and demonstrations.” “If there is no last minute change, we will not be able to provide support,” he warned.
In addition, in ERC they are upset because in full negotiations, the Government bought 58,630 units of rubber bullets in three batches: 8,330 for the Civil Guard in December 2021, 11,300 for the National Police in April 2022 and 39,000 in reserve acquired by the Interior in September of last year.
The opinion will presumably be voted on Tuesday. Apart from the opposition groups such as ERC, EH Bildu or Junts, also the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox reject the reform for very different reasons. Today, the PSOE and Unidas Podemos do not have the simple majority required for it to be approved in the commission. If it exceeds this cutoff, as it is an organic law, the reform needs an absolute majority to be approved.
