The PSOE does not talk about the amnesty, but it does not reject it. It is the reveille that Pedro Sánchez sounded since the possibility of forgiveness for those involved in the process entered the game of his hypothetical investiture.. And what happened in the Senate this Tuesday is a new chapter of that strategy. The socialists have rejected the motion proposed by the PP as the first step in their pressure strategy against the PSOE's negotiations with the independentists
“Dialogue is the method and the Constitution is the framework,” said Eva Granados, socialist spokesperson in the Senate and leader of the PSC.. It must be remembered that the Catalan socialists, led by Salvador Illa, rejected proposals from ERC, Junts and the Commons in favor of exploring forgiveness for those involved in the events of October 1 and the unilateral declaration of independence. It is true that, later, PSOE and PSC issued a joint statement to reject the positions of the leaders of the independence movement, but the amnesty debate hangs over the socialist ranks..
The PSOE thesis is well known. The pacification policy launched by Sánchez upon arriving in Moncloa is the only way out to resolve the Catalan problem. “When Spain is at risk of breaking up, it is when you govern,” said Granados, who has opted to continue working to “redo what was broken: coexistence and reunion between Catalans and between Catalans and the rest of Spaniards.”.
Granados responded to Antonio Silván, the PP senator who has defended the text, while Sánchez appeared to give an account of his plans after being officially designated as a candidate by Felipe VI. In this context, the socialist has asked that they be allowed to “work” and has justified that voting against the popular motion is voting “in favor of coexistence and pluralism.”. Along with the socialists, the senators from the Basque and Catalan groups (Junts, ERC, EH Bildu and PNV) have voted in favor, as well as the plurinational group that includes Geroa Bai and some of the parties included in Sumar in Congress.
The former regional presidents of the PSOE, recovered in the Senate after losing the governments of Aragón, Extremadura, La Rioja and the Valencian Community in the elections on May 28, have also voted against.. Especially striking is the case of Javier Lambán, who has been very critical of the positions of his party leadership.. Together with Emiliano García-Page, they headed the most belligerent sector with the dependence that the current PSOE has on the nationalist forces, but 28-M left the Castilian-La Mancha as the only representative of that current.. Lambán shares a seat with Guillermo Fernández-Vara from Extremadura, who is vice president of the Senate, with Concha Andreu from Rioja and with Ximo Puig from Valencia..
“They are trying to prevent Congress from saying yes to a candidate who does have a project,” criticized Granados, who has defined politics as “discussing what separates us, within the Constitution, until we find what unites us.”. “Do not count on the PSOE for confrontation,” said the PSC leader in response to criticism from Silván, who has assured that the Spanish “do not deserve a government that is based on lies and blackmail.”. UPN and Vox have voted with the PP, whose spokesperson, Paloma Gómez, has charged against the “craziness and desire for greatness” of Pedro Sánchez.
The Head of State has just commissioned President @sanchezcastejon to form the Government.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this motion from @ppopular is already old, old. “A new time is opening to achieve a government of progress and coexistence.”. pic.twitter.com/dNGDKDVzrx
— Eva Granados Galiano 🌹 (@Eva_Granados) October 3, 2023
Criticism of the PP for the amendment has not only come from the intervention of Eva Granados. Carla Antonelli, from the plurinational group, has charged against the PP's “desire to make a mess”. Estefanía Beltrán de Herrera, of the PNV, has disgraced “the Spanish governments” for their “inability to solve a political conflict”, while the EH Bildu deputy, Gorka Elejabarrieta, has trusted that the commitment to amnesty will serve to solve.
The representatives of ERC and Junts have been much tougher. Sara Bailac has spoken of the “general cause against the independence movement” launched by the PP, while Josep Lluis Cleries, from Carles Puigdemont's party, has said that “the PP's dialogue is the baton”, in reference to the charges of the Police in the context of October 1, 2017 and the subsequent mobilizations. “The amnesty is essential, it is the starting point for the resolution of the conflict”, Cleries has defended.
The PP strategy
The absolute majority that the Popular Party achieved in the Senate on June 23 will allow them to use the Upper House as a battering ram against Sánchez. If the legislature gets going, they will be able to delay the approval of the legislative agenda of the hypothetical coalition Executive. But they will also be able to use this type of initiative to force the position of the PSOE on controversial issues.. The third tool will be the General Commission of the Autonomous Communities, which the regional presidents are expected to pass through in the coming weeks, just at the same time as Sánchez's negotiation with his nationalist and independence partners..
This body was launched this Tuesday and the spokesperson for the socialists will be the general secretary of the Andalusian PSOE, Juan Espadas, who is a senator by autonomous appointment.. According to voices from the party itself in Andalusia, this gesture serves to demonstrate the importance that the most populated community in the country will have in the territorial debate that is about to open.. “Thanks to the PSOE of Andalusia there was and always will be equality in the construction of Spain,” said Mario Jiménez, former parliamentary spokesperson for the Andalusian socialists on his Twitter account, now X.