The Plenary Session of Congress will host next Tuesday, December 12, the first debate of the amnesty law proposal registered by the PSOE for the events of the process, and two days later it will vote on the creation of the three parliamentary investigation commissions that the socialists They accepted last August in exchange for the vote of the Catalan independentists of ERC and Junts to gain the majority on the Chamber Table.
This was agreed this Tuesday by the Board of Spokespersons of Congress, which has also set the first Government control session of this legislature for December 13, which, however, will not be attended by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez. In addition, that day the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, will appear in the chamber to report on the migration crisis.
After its qualification by the Congress Board, with the PP voting against, the amnesty law was published in the Bulletin of the Cortes and was sent to the Government so that it could approve its debate, since the Constitution grants The Executive has the power to veto the processing of legislative initiatives that condition its budgetary policy, whether due to an increase in spending or a decrease in income.
The Government has 30 days to make a statement, but on this occasion it had 27 days left to communicate to Congress its "agreement" with the processing of said initiative. There have been cases in which it has responded even faster, such as with the bill that ended the crime of sedition, when it took less than 24 hours to give its approval to the debate.
After achieving the endorsement of the Government, the Board of Spokespersons has decided this Tuesday to schedule the debate for consideration for the 12th. Once the PSOE and its partners give it free rein to continue its parliamentary path, a first period will open for the presentation of amendments. Both the Socialist Group and its allies have requested that it be processed urgently, which would cut all deadlines in half.
Deadline extensions depend on the will of the parliamentary groups. Supporters of the amnesty have the possibility of requesting that the proposal be processed by a single reading (with the debate of the full and partial amendments in a single debate in the Plenary without going through a presentation or commission). This option would allow the rule to be approved in Congress before the end of the year, but it does not seem to be on the table.
If this express processing is not ultimately requested, the Government support groups are counting on Congress to enable the month of January - a non-business month for parliamentary purposes - so that the rule can be discussed in a presentation and committee.
Afterwards, the process will remain in the Senate, where the PP has an absolute majority and is determined to extend the deadlines up to the two-month limit set by the Constitution. From there it will return to the Lower House for final approval and entry into force, expected in spring.
In addition, the Board of Spokespersons has rejected by majority the appeal presented by the PP against the decision of the Congressional Board to classify that proposal as law, a revocation that Vox also requested.
On the other hand, the groups have included in next week's agenda, specifically for Thursday, the debate on the creation of the investigation commissions that the socialists agreed to open with the Catalan independentists.
These are two investigations registered by Junts, together with the PNV, related to the Islamist attacks that took place in Barcelona and Cambrils (Tarragona) in August 2017, and Operation Catalunya that is attributed to the Government of Mariano Rajoy. For its part, Esquerra (ERC) registered, accompanied by Bildu and BNG, the one relating to espionage with the Pegasus program.
In the agreement signed by PSOE and Junts for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, there is talk of taking advantage of the new promised investigation commissions to deepen the amnesty for pro-independence supporters prosecuted over the last ten years. Those of Carles Puigdemont want what Congress decides to serve to demonstrate the alleged lawfare or judicial war and thus review other causes that affect coreligionists.
Precisely that mention of lawfare in the PSOE and Junts agreement angered the main judicial associations and the General Council of the Judiciary, who interpreted that Congress was going to supervise the actions of the courts.
