Sánchez vows to be ‘wall against far-right’ amid amnesty law fallout

Spain’s acting prime ministerPedro Sánchez, to be sworn in as the new head of government on Thursday, vowed that his government will be a “wall” of democracy, progress and coexistence against the “reactionary” and “retrograde” political strategies of the Partido Popular (PP/EPP) and the far-right Vox party (ECR) while defending the approval of an amnesty law to “reconcile” Madrid with Catalonia.

In his speech in parliament, Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) defended the need for his future coalition government with the left-wing Sumar platform to pass an amnesty law to benefit those involved in the 2017 secessionist attempt in Catalonia to improve the much-deteriorated political relationship between Madrid and that prosperous Spanish region.

The Socialist candidate defended the extraordinary measure of grace “in the name of Spain, in the interest of Spain and in defence of concord among Spaniards”.

Faced with accusations from the PP and Vox, the first and third largest opposition parties in parliament, that the extraordinary measure goes against the Constitution, Sánchez and Yolanda Díaz, leader of the progressive Sumar platform and Sánchez’s future vice-president, defended the law’s approval.

“We are once again at a historic moment, we are once again at a historic crossroads, and as always, at historic moments, Spain will once again give a clear response: it is called democracy, more and more democracy; it is called disputing the future, and this is what we are going to do today and from tomorrow (Thursday)  when we have a new President of the Government”, Díaz stressed.

PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused Sánchez of having negotiated (in Brussels) an amnesty for those responsible for a ‘coup’ carried out by Catalan separatists in 2017, with the organisation of an illegal referendum on self-determination and the approval of an illegal unilateral declaration of independence (DUI) in the Catalan regional parliament, among other illegal actions.

‘History will not pardon Sánchez’: PP

The PP will push for the approval of a “law of constitutional loyalty” in which it will “expressly allude to the impunity generated by the amnesty law (for separatists)”, Nuñez Feijóo announced.

“History will not pardon” Sánchez for his pacts with Catalan separatist parties, the PP leader warned.

He also criticised Sánchez for his relations with Basque parties, including the moderate-nationalist Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and the separatist EH Bildu, which the right-wing views as the political arm of the disbanded terrorist group ETA, which killed around 850 people from the mid-1960s until its last deadly attack in 2010.

Núñez Feijóo asked Sánchez to clarify what his “hooded pact” (for the hoods that ETA terrorists used to wear to hide their identity) with EH Bildu leader Arnaldo Otegi has been and whether that pact includes an “amnesty (for terrorists)”, he said.

The now opposition leader reminded the acting prime minister that he had won the snap general election on 23 July (although he did not manage to forge a majority to govern) and accused him of the “political corruption” that, in his opinion, the investiture entails, because it is “false” that he (Sánchez) has a majority, he declared.

“What is being brought to parliament today (support for the separatists) was not voted for at the ballot box,” he complained.

The PSOE leader is assured of 179 votes, three more than the majority needed (176 out of 350) to return to power for another four years, thanks mainly to the support of the two main Catalan separatist parties: the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and the right-wing pro-independence party Together for Catalonia (JxCat).

The ERC and JxCat gave their “yes” to Sánchez for the entire legislature – including the approval of the national budget – in exchange for generous concessions.

In addition to the amnesty law, the government will pay off Catalonia’s €15 billion debt to the central state, approve the transfer of full responsibility for Catalonia’s commuter train network (Rodalies) from Madrid to the regional government and open the door for Catalonia to raise its own taxes.

Sánchez calls on the PP to abandon Vox’s ‘Trumpism’

To ease the tense political climate in the country, Sánchez called on the PP and Vox to be “responsible” and not to continue their strategy of confrontation by calling for protest demonstrations and legal action.

On Wednesday, Vox took Sánchez to court for, among other things, “cooperation with terrorism” for the serious events of 2017, a legal initiative that experts say is doomed to fail.

Sánchez called on the PP not to follow the “hawkish” line of the far right, to abandon its “Trumpist” strategy and to act as a state party “that cannot be dictated to by a far-right organisation” (Vox).

Vox leader Santiago Abascal accused Sánchez on Wednesday of “preparing a coup d’état” with the amnesty law and considered that his investiture “is the end of democracy”, for which he has compared the PM to “the worst tyrants and criminals in history”, such as “Hugo Chávez, Maduro or Hitler”.

Meanwhile, the socialist candidate disclosed details of his government programme, which he will carry out together with Díaz, who will be his “number 2”, and which will place a strong emphasis on social policies to reinforce Spain’s welfare state.

Announced measures by Sánchez include extending the current VAT rebate on food until June 2024 and free public transport passes for young people and the unemployed.

The new PSOE-Sumar government also plans to reduce the working week to 37.5 hours, offer tax incentives to companies to offer more flexible working hours and promote teleworking, and approve a new workers’ statute guaranteeing that the minimum wage (SMI) will be 60% of the average wage (€2,086.8 gross).

The government’s objectives include revaluing pensions in line with the CPI, applying a minimum corporate tax rate of 15% and stepping up measures to combat the informal economy.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)

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