There was no kick to the rival’s shin that the contenders were spared. They came out on Falcon presidential, the corruption of the PP, the detailed list of statements by Pedro Sánchez denying that he would do what he later did, Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s old friendship with a Galician boss and an endless number of other things, none of them pleasant. The socialist leader literally laughed on the platform of his popular counterpart at his assertion at his failed investiture that he is not president because he doesn’t want to. The second mocked the first, ensuring that he came to the presidency with hardly any more resume than having been a councilor of Madrid. “No one has done more for separatism than you,” Feijóo fired at Sánchez. “No one has done more for Vox at the head of the PP than you,” returned the acting president and candidate for re-election.
There were fears about what could happen in the street on the first day of the parliamentary investiture debate that this Thursday, barring any surprise, will endorse Sánchez as head of the Executive. During the day, the ultra groups gathered just a few hundred people, who were kept away from the Congress of Deputies by the large police deployment – 1,600 agents. Where the anger forecasts were met to a millimeter was within the chamber.
The attack by the PP over the amnesty law against the Catalan independentists prosecuted by the processes It was as fierce as could be expected. And Sánchez did not hold back in his reply either, while he heard cries of “traitor” or “trilero” from the popular seats. When the ears had not yet recovered from the fierce duel between the two main leaders, Santiago Abascal arrived to put the icing on the cake. He reiterated his idea that the approval of the amnesty law amounts to a coup d’état and compared Sánchez to Hitler, Nero and “the greatest criminals in history.” After the president of Congress, Francina Armengol, ordered him to withdraw those terms, Abascal saw his idea confirmed that democracy has disappeared in Spain and left the session with his entire group.
Outside of the fight with the right, the debate also left a warning for Sánchez about what awaits him after having completed his majority with a partner as mercurial and in such tough positions as Junts. The socialist leader’s speech, far removed from the concessions to the independence language of the agreement signed last week with Carles Puigdemont’s party, did not please him at all. And his spokesperson, Míriam Nogueras, warned that, although there had been talk of a commitment for the entire legislature, the future Government will have to earn their support “piece by piece.”
Spanish politics moves above all to the contrary. This investiture session showed it, as Feijóo’s failed one had done three weeks ago. Then, the popular one sidestepped the presentation of a Government program – which is supposed to be the main reason for the candidate’s speech – to dedicate himself to opposing an Executive and a future law – the amnesty law – which at that time were purely hypothetical. Sánchez did something similar this Wednesday. He started by showing his total respect for the hundreds of thousands of people who demonstrated last Sunday alongside the PP against the future pardon measures. For a moment, it seemed that he was going to take the bravest bull by the horns from the beginning. But not. He immediately launched into a very long, very ideological excursion about the dangers that threaten the world today and that has led many people, from the United States to Argentina, to fall into the hands of the extreme right. These “reactionary ideas” are thriving, Sánchez warned, due to the support of the “traditional right.” And from there it got to where it wanted: an exhaustive memorial against the most controversial measures and pronouncements of the joint governments between the PP and Vox in communities and city councils, from the brakes on policies against climate change to cuts in social services. To this he dedicated 40 of the 100 minutes that his speech would last, with the aim of preparing the ground for his arguments in defense of the amnesty.
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The popular ones were getting impatient. There was only one topic in his mind and occasional rumors ran through his seats. “Amnesty!” shouted one of his deputies. But Sánchez did not flinch and entered a propositional phase, more in line with the role that a candidate for the presidency is supposed to play. In the face of this “retrograde right” stands a “progressive Government”, which “expands social rights” and fights against inequality. And he announced measures: free transportation for young people and the unemployed, extension of the VAT reduction on some foods until June or reinforcement of the mental health service.
That speech ultimately led to the long-awaited defense of amnesty. The idea was to explain that to continue with these policies and prevent Spain from falling under the “reactionary wave” pacts are necessary. And they demand amnesty, which is “perfectly legal and in accordance with the Constitution,” Sánchez assured (then the reading, by Feijóo and Abascal, of a string of old statements by him and members of his Government defending otherwise). The candidate started from the recognition that in Catalonia there is a significant number of citizens who want to leave Spain and pointed out that there are two possible reactions to this. One, the one applied by the PP, is “the path of imposition and tension”, which led to the “disaster” and the “greatest constitutional crisis of our democracy.” The other, his, is the commitment to “dialogue and understanding”, which opposes “reunion to revenge”.
Sánchez assured that the right-wing protests are not occurring because of the amnesty, but “because they do not accept the electoral results.” Then, in his responses to Feijóo, he even surmised that he would have accepted the pardon measures to gain the support of Junts if it were not for the fact that he needs Vox.
The PP lives in a state of euphoria due to the great echo achieved by last Sunday’s demonstrations. The joy of the popular people was evident even before their leader’s reply began, received with an ovation as on great occasions. And as soon as he began to speak, the rounds of applause, increasingly enthusiastic, constantly accompanied his speech. Feijóo appeared unleashed from the first minute, raising his voice much more than usual. He started shouting a dozen ‘no’s’ in case someone wasn’t clear about his position. After complaining that Sánchez had “insulted” the regional presidents of his party, he accused him of having “lost his mind,” of “having no legal or ethical limit” or of suffering from “a pathological ambition.” “You have not gotten anyone’s support, you have bought it,” he attacked. He once again considered that the investiture in exchange for an amnesty that did not appear in the PSOE’s electoral program constitutes a “fraud” and became the spokesperson for “the majority of Spaniards” to reiterate their demand for new elections. Sánchez replied sarcastically: “Why do you want to repeat them if you say you have won them?” Despite everything, and although until then the popular leader’s speech sounded like something else, Feijóo ended up recognizing Sánchez’s future Government as legitimate.
But the harsh duel with Feijóo was not the most committed moment for Sánchez. This arrived with Nogueras, the spokesperson for the seven decisive votes for the investiture. Junts had already conveyed its discomfort with Sánchez’s speech, which it considered had ignored its agreements, and even conveyed it to the organization secretary of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán. “He has not addressed the issue in a brave way as he was in the agreement,” Nogueras snapped from the stands. And consequently she announced: “Instead of earning the stability of the legislature, you will have to earn it piece by piece.” The PSOE, stated the Junts spokesperson, “has not ceased to be the party that enthusiastically embraced 155” no matter how much it has agreed with it.
Sánchez reacted with lead feet so as not to jeopardize the delicate balance achieved with Puigdemont’s party and barely extended his reply. He insisted that, despite their recent agreements, the positions of both parties are “radically different.” But he finished with a promise to appease the annoyance of his interlocutors: “During this term we will take steps to definitively resolve this conflict.”
Junts, for its part, also had to listen to what was said by the other Catalan independence party. The ERC spokesperson, Gabriel Rufián, had spoken Spanish until he switched to Catalan just to attack his former associates. He regretted that in the previous legislature, when ERC already supported Sánchez, Junts turned them into a “punching bag” and accused them of agreeing “in exchange for nothing,” despite achieving, among other things, pardons for those convicted of the Supreme Court. Ironically, he promised that from now on they will be on the side of Puigdemont’s party “when the PSOE tries to deceive them, which they will try.”
Support for Sánchez came from the leader of Sumar, Yolanda Díaz, although she previously made clear some differences with the PSOE. Starting with the Catalan issue, remembering that his political space was opposed to applying 155 at the time and always defended pardon measures. “The amnesty reinforces democracy,” she stated. But Díaz focused her speech on economic and labor issues, also marking distances with the PSOE on taxes or housing.
The forecast is that Sánchez will be re-elected this Thursday, unless the clash with Junts still brings some twist to a script that has lasted almost four months.
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