The inviolability of the King will open another confrontation for Sánchez with his legislative partners

Felipe VI will return to the political center after the foreseeable failed investiture of the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, which begins this noon in Congress. The monarch will have to call a new round of consultations with the parties and propose Pedro Sánchez, who hopes to submit to the confidence of the Chamber in mid-October. The socialist must have closed by then the agreements that guarantee the yes of Junts, PNV, ERC and Bildu. Now the negotiation is focused on the terms of the amnesty that Carles Puigdemont demands to give the green light to a new Sánchez presidency, and which according to the Republicans has been agreed, in the absence of technical details.. But the Basque nationalists will also put a high price on their five votes. Among the historical demands of the formation is to review the inviolability of the King, which will be on the agenda of demands for the legislature. From the PSOE, they admit that it is “an unresolved issue” and that it will return to the political battlefield with the imminent anniversary of the speech it gave on October 3, 2017, after the illegal referendum..

The relationship of the partners with the Crown will be a complicated front for Sánchez. Yolanda Díaz's party supports eliminating “privileges” of Felipe VI and for the Catalan independentists it is one of their black beasts. ERC and Junts want him to “apologize” for “endorsing the violence” of the Security Forces. Deputy Gabriel Rufián read a joint statement with Junts, Bildu, PNV and BNG under the motto: “We have no king.”. The new parliamentary arithmetic arising from the 23-J elections, which delved into Sánchez's dependence on the Frankenstein partners, places the Government in an “uncomfortable” position vis-à-vis the head of State. The first proof is in the swearing-in of the Constitution by Princess Leonor, on October 31, where a sit-in by sovereignists in Congress is expected, as reported by El Confidencial..

So far, the PSOE has joined the PP to stop in the Lower House Table the initiatives of those of Aitor Esteban, who asked to limit the “irresponsibility” of the King to institutional acts. The Basques already made a battery of proposals, among which were also other recurring demands such as the reform of the law on official secrets or modifying the operation of the CNI.. The socialists have clung to the opinion of the Chamber's lawyers, who already in 2022 argued that the PNV text “invaded” the Constitution, which in its article 56.3 establishes that “the person of the King is inviolable and is not subject to responsibility.” ”. Since it was included in the Magna Carta, it could not be amended by means of a bill, as the writing concluded..

The alibi is easily dismantled, given that the Sánchez Government negotiated in 2021 and 2022 with the PP the development of a Crown Law and it was put on the table to modify the change in the status of the monarch without needing to touch the Constitution. There were meetings between Zarzuela and the emissaries of the Moncloa and the PP. On the part of the Executive, they were initially headed by Vice President Carmen Calvo, until her departure from the Council of Ministers.. From that moment on, the relationship with the Royal House was assumed by Félix Bolaños.. In the case of the popular ones, the then leader, Pablo Casado, appointed Manuel Pizarro as interlocutor. There was no agreement. Zarzuela and the main opposition party opposed addressing inviolability.

Traditionally, the PSOE has sought out the PP to address issues relating to the head of state, but the rule was broken with the exile of the emeritus to Abu Dhabi, which was not communicated to the popular parties.. Although Zarzuela will always be taken into account, socialist sources point out, Sánchez would be willing to open the debate on the demand of Basques and Catalans so that Felipe VI goes from being inviolable to being incapacitated before the Supreme Court, as happens with politicians.. The Moncloa could always frame it within the steps that the King's House has been taking for the sake of greater transparency of the institution..

Last year, the PSOE already supported in Congress an initiative by its members to decriminalize insults to the Crown by modifying several articles of the Penal Code, including 490.3, which proposes prison sentences of six months to two years in the serious cases, as well as fines of six to 12 months for minor crimes.

From a legal point of view, there is debate about whether or not it is essential to reform the Magna Carta. Experts such as the constitutionalist Francesc de Carreras have defended a “partial inviolability” and not total, so that the King has to answer before Justice for his private acts.. It would not be necessary to carry out a reform of the Magna Carta, since it would serve, as the PNV also defends, with a modification of the Organic Law of the Judiciary to include the monarch along with the other powers of the royal family. At this time, Queen Letizia, the Princess of Asturias and Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía are under arrest after their abdication..

The Congressional lawyers who have been rejecting changes in the King's “irresponsibility” are the same ones who described as “unconstitutional”, in a report in 2021, the amnesty that Sánchez is negotiating with Junts today in exchange for his seven votes to repeat as president. If finally the measure of grace for the independentists goes ahead, it will have to be endorsed by the monarch.