Despite the good results achieved with the pardons in terms of reducing the social conflict in Catalonia, the PSC bases show concern about Pedro Sánchez's willingness to agree on a future amnesty law in exchange for the investiture.. This is explained by internal socialist sources. However, these critical voices have not transcended beyond the debates within this political formation, since in these environments and in the middle ranks, priority is given to guaranteeing the government in Spain over the consequences that this new norm may produce. in Catalonia.
The critical voices of socialist personalities are not limited to Felipe González. In many PSC groups serious reservations are being raised about the way the amnesty is presented. Grassroots militants such as Joan Ferran and Joaquim Coll have also expressed their doubts in various media outlets about a proposal that is also presented as a bargaining chip for Sánchez's investiture.. The debate is not about whether the measure is constitutional, but about whether the independence movement deserves it, given that, formally, the same radicalism as months ago is maintained..
Officially, the party has avoided defending the measure, but that changed this Saturday in the Federal Committee. Just a month ago, on September 28, he voted against the amnesty plan proposed by ERC in the Parliament. But he doesn't criticize her either.. That is why he chose not to go to the demonstration called by the Catalan Civil Society against the amnesty law.. Salvador Illa has dictated maximum caution and the party has strictly complied. This Saturday there was a turning point and the Catalan socialists, like Sánchez, have turned and are openly in favor of amnesty as a formula for “coexistence”.
“It is an exceptional measure to recover full political normality in Catalonia and Spain,” PSC sources explained after the Federal Committee held in Ferraz, where Sánchez left with the endorsement of the party to attempt his investiture.. And the “only way” to achieve this successfully is through amnesty. The acting president advocated “making necessity a virtue” and the leaders present closed ranks with him, with the exception of Emiliano García Page, reports Carlos Rocha.
The PSC, en bloc
The PSC leadership is responding as a block. Both in the Executive Commission, the National Council or the parliamentary group in the Parliament. Not a critical voice in any of these bodies, not even behind closed doors.. The party closes ranks with its general secretary, Salvador Illa, closely linked to Pedro Sánchez. In the groups in which doubts have been raised, according to internal party sources, they have been above all due to the positions of the independence movement: not asking for forgiveness, insisting that in certain circumstances a unilateral process could be reproduced, wanting Catalonia to be recognized as a national minority and wanting to turn the amnesty into a victory for the separatist movement.
In most cases they are not open criticisms, but rather reasonable doubts. It is not about opposing the amnesty itself, but rather the general context that the independence movement is drawing for this general measure of grace.. Neither ERC nor JxCAT are committed to creating a climate of harmony neither in Catalonia nor the rest of Spain. The debate in the Senate on the amnesty, held last week, shows how the measure is being proposed in a climate of tension and not of reunion between Catalans and healing wounds in Catalonia.
The PSC leadership has responded to the criticism with two lines of argument. Most of the time because the voices that have questioned the amnesty were the same ones that opposed the pardons. The answer is always that the grace measure sowed the same uncertainties in the previous phase, but then they were positive for coexistence in Catalonia, beyond what the independence propaganda said at first.. Let us remember, the PSC promised social peace to the Catalans, but did not set a cost.
Socialist priorities
The majority of these socialist bases are aware that a good part of the specific weight that the party now enjoys lies in the fact that it occupies power in the central government.. Nobody wants to give up that, aware that situations such as those of the former mayor of Barcelona Jordi Hereu as president of Hispasat are only the result of these circumstances.. Therefore, priority ends up being given to governing in Madrid over the reasonable doubts raised by the amnesty.. Also that the personal future of a good part of the party's cadres in Barcelona City Council depends on this pact and that, depending on how the investiture agreements are developed, it will end up being agreed with the Commons or with JxCAT.
On the part of the leadership of Catalan socialism, these days priority is being given to internal didactics. First, we recognize the legitimacy of showing reservations about the initiative, then we remember the good results obtained by the pardons—many of the current critics of the amnesty already expressed similar doubts internally with the pardons—and how well it is going. the party in the polls and, finally, a vote of confidence is requested from the Moncloa team, which is the one that is assuming the negotiation.
Lack of weather
The independence movement has focused in recent weeks on demanding amnesty as a way to rearm itself before the State.. For ERC, the measure represents a natural continuity of the pardons. For JxCAT, on the other hand, it is a measure in which the current Government rectifies past errors. Both positions distance a hypothetical measure of grace from the social climate that required a measure like this: social consensus, reconciliation and recognition between the parties.. But all of this is very far from what the independence movement maintains in its actions and related media..
JxCAT does not renounce unilaterality, as Carles Puigdemont himself alleges. The bulk of the independence discourse means that for many constitutionalist Catalans there are many doubts regarding the latest political initiative of Pedro Sánchez. This is worrying in Moncloa because surveys indicate that in Spain as a whole the rejection is even greater.. But at this moment, Catalonia is the great electoral base of socialism, so the internal communication effort is being made within the formation. This behind-the-scenes policy contrasts with the official silence and lack of statements by the PSOE on this issue in the public sphere.. The PSC promised social peace in Catalonia. And that continues to do.