The former president of the Government Felipe González assured yesterday that constitutional health is “threatened” and that the Magna Carta is being “attacked” in a “ruthless and irrational” way because, in his opinion, decisions are being made that “have little to do with it” with the country’s challenges. For this reason, he asked society to react to defend constitutional values.
González stated that “respect for the division of powers has been lost”, in his speech at the 10th Gregorio Peces-Barba Conference held on Tuesday at Caixa-Forum to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Constitution. Also attending the event were the president of Congress, Francina Armengol, the president of the Senate, Pedro Rollán, the former president of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) Carlos Lesmes and judge Pablo Llarena, among other prosecutors and magistrates such as Manuel Marchena or Carmen Lamela. .
In the same sense, the former president, who shared the stage with the former PSOE deputy Eduardo Madina, regretted that Spain lacks a “militancy” in favor of the Constitution. Therefore, he called on society to react; “So we are in a moment of difficulty? Yes. Are we in a moment of threat to the values ??that have built coexistence? Yes. Do we have to react? Yes.”, González summarized.
The statements that the former socialist leader expressed yesterday are reminiscent of the words of former President of the Government José María Aznar last November at the inauguration of the Master of Political Action at the Institute of Atlantic Studies. Aznar called on the Spanish not to be inhibited by the amnesty pact, and demanded that “he who can speak, let him speak; he who can do, let him do; he who can contribute, let him contribute; he who can move, let him move”, in a context that he considered to be an “extraordinarily serious constitutional crisis”.
The former socialist leader also referred to the autonomous system as the closest thing to a federal model, but that “it is breaking down” because in his opinion, the pro-independence forces are pushing “towards bilaterality without taking into account the whole” of the State. In the same sense, the former president attacked “plurinationality”, after considering that it does not fit into the constitutional precepts
González criticized the Socialist Party for giving in to the negotiations with the Catalan independentists in favor of the Amnesty Law, which he described as “self-amnesty.” For this reason, the former president of the Government stated that the “problem is not with the few who shout or who want to undo the system”, but “with those who have a majority who, with respect to minorities, do not have to give in to any one.” type of conditioning or blackmail”.
In the same sense, the former socialist leader showed his concern about the omnibus decrees approved last week in Congress after the PSOE reached an agreement with Junts so that the independentistas would not oppose the measures. González described the day as a “spectacle” and criticized the position of the party led by Carles Puigdemont; “Do you accept the entire package or are we going to blame you for not allowing progress on this or that?” commented the socialist, about what in his opinion was the position of the Catalan nationalists. ” We have to overcome this emergency situation,” claimed the former president.
“They call me a dinosaur and they are right, but that allows me to say that, when I talk about the future, I am not talking about mine,” González launched, before advocating for bipartisanship.
The former president questioned whether the two main parties in Spain lack “intelligence or will” to agree on the major reforms that are required; “Now there are two majority forces. PP and PSOE add up to the 210 deputies needed to carry out the essential reforms. Either they accept that they are condemned to understand each other or they continue to confront each other, creating walls and fictitious divisions,” said González.
Finally, the former leader of the PSOE also described the blockade of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) as “intolerable”, and was in favor of the automatic dismissal of the members when their term ends. Even so, González defended the judges and magistrates after ensuring that he would not accept, “to the extent that he can, that the division of powers and the independence of the Judiciary be attacked.” Therefore, the former president asked Armengol and Rollán to include the renewal of the CGPJ in all sessions of Congress and the Senate, to the applause of the public.
