A country to be built, but the lack of leadership – and support – to do it. This is how the Government led by Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo could be defined for just over a year and a half, a parenthesis between the Government of Adolfo Suárez, architect of the Transition and victim of the tensions in which the incipient Spanish democracy was still being debated and a more than unfavorable economic and sociopolitical context, and the emergence of Felipe González's PSOE with its absolute majority in the 1982 elections.
Called to follow in Suárez's footsteps, the candidate for the presidency of the Government after the traumatic resignation of his predecessor wanted to end the Transition too soon, as he insisted in his investiture speech, which we offer in an excerpt. In one thing he was completely right: the consensus that allowed the structures of the dictatorship to end and the Constitution to be approved had ended his cycle.
This meant that his political project, focused on improving an economic situation that was hampering the country and punishing the most vulnerable sectors, was not enough to convince the majority of the Congress of Deputies in a first vote that the candidate lost by seven. votes.
Added to this were the initial reluctance of the nationalist groups, who saw how the candidate already outlined in his speech what ended up being the controversial Organic Law for Harmonization of the Autonomous Process (Loapa), which overlapped the autonomous powers included in the autonomy statutes. and would end up being declared unconstitutional.
Furthermore, Calvo-Sotelo did not convince the incipient coalition led by former minister Manuel Fraga that from the right would come to occupy the space of his Democratic Center Union despite promising new police and criminal measures against terrorism, another of the problems that most They did not worry the Spaniards, nor the left due to their lack of definition regarding the legalization of divorce or their refusal to hold a referendum on membership in NATO.
Although this lack of consensus was thrown into disarray when the candidate, after having lost the first opportunity to occupy the Presidency, found that during the second voting session, in which he simply needed a simple majority of votes - and that presumably he would have achieved – the assault on Congress by a lieutenant colonel of the Civil Guard made it clear that the Transition could not be considered over.
After that dark episode in the recent history of Spain, Calvo-Sotelo ended up gaining support to be president. Hand in hand with the Democratic Coalition led by the Popular Alliance and the abstention of the Catalan Minority. Although his government was as weak as it was brief and ended up being marked by the silent dismantling of another coup attempt that the overwhelming victory of the PSOE ended up silencing.
“Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen:
”I appear before your honors to request the confidence of the Chamber as a candidate for the Presidency of the Government proposed by His Majesty the King, in accordance with article 99 of the Constitution.
”The process of which this investiture session is a central part began with the resignation of President Suárez. I have been under him, as minister, for four years, and I have had the privilege of closely following the political transition of which he has been the main architect. I want to leave at the very threshold of this speech my tribute to the extraordinary work of Adolfo Suárez and my affection and admiration for him.
”With his withdrawal the transition ends. With his withdrawal a very unique stage in Spanish history ends. Precisely because I have not been the protagonist of that transition that is now ending, I believe that I can inaugurate a new stage, in which constitutional mechanisms clean of all founding emotion act from the first moment.
”A change in the Presidency of the Government is a normal fact in parliamentary regimes. This change comes exactly when we cross the halfway point of the legislature. After the fact of substitution, there is no new parliamentary arithmetic, which responds today, as yesterday, to the verdict of the 1979 polls. Substitution occurs, therefore, in political continuity, and in political continuity I have to govern, if I obtain the investiture.
”But I want to say immediately, ladies and gentlemen, that I know how this Chamber, and in it, first of all, the representatives of the Government party, asks for a new direction for the ship of State. I am sensitive to this political fact and I announce from now on that, if I obtain the confidence of the Congress of Deputies, I will direct my Government in continuity, but, of course, without the inertia of continuation.
”Our great heritage is to have today a democratic regime that the different political forces represented here have been creating with a sense of their historical responsibility, to order our present and future coexistence. Because it must be said that we have done a lot during the transition, and we have done it exemplarily, as our foreign friends, more objective than us, sometimes, in the diagnosis, have recognized and admired.
”In these five years, Spain has rediscovered freedom, and freedom has revealed to us a living, renewing, changing Spain, at the same time adolescent and reflective, very far from the drama that has marked its crises for one hundred and fifty years. It is legitimate that we make this assessment with satisfaction and with hope and that we deduce from it a clear conclusion: the transition is over, democracy is done, although there is still a lot of State left to do; there is no fragility in the system; There is the government, day by day, of a complex society in an adverse and changing circumstance. And there are some constitutional mechanisms that have shown, that show their effectiveness today.
”For all this I speak of continuity, and that is why the Government that I intend to form will also be a Government of the Democratic Center Union. In 1983, without anticipation; that would not favor the establishment of democracy in Spain, the sovereign voice of the people called for general elections may suggest other formulas; Today, I am going to propose to your honors the formation of a Government made up of men from my party.
”But this Government, and first of all its president, if it obtains the investiture, cannot forget that disenchantment, pessimism, insecurity and hopelessness are dominant traits in the minds of the Spanish people. Many think that too many problems seem to have fallen on Spain at the same time and they think that a change in the way of governing is necessary. And the Government that I form will be willing to accept that change if I obtain the investiture of the Chamber.
”Because the greatest risk of our situation would be that we attribute the evils that afflict us to a specific political structure. It would mean that we would become disenchanted with democracy or freedom. This House must always be vigilant to avoid this risk, and especially today, when an investiture debate begins.
”I would like to be able to bring to the minds of those who follow this debate outside the chamber the certainty that here we are dealing with their real problems: the anguish of those who cannot find employment, the insecurity of those who fear losing it, the unease of families who have seen their small savings relentlessly reduced by inflation, of those who fight in adversity to keep their companies alive, of those who fear for their personal safety or that of their loved ones, of those who, in short, do not dare to look at the future.
”I would like to convey to all of them that these are also my concerns, that this is the reason why I am here, long before an ambition for power or a partisan desire. And I would like to encourage all of them that the Government that I form will dedicate the remaining half of the legislature to providing possible solutions to these real problems.
”Article 99 of our Constitution asks the candidate to present the political program of the Government he intends to form. I do not believe that this program should consist of the mere compilation of the set of concrete measures that the different ministries will later apply. I think, on the contrary, that a political program must have, above all, the ambition to define with clear outlines the preferences towards which a government action is directed.
”It has been said many times that governing is choosing. Do not expect from me, your honors, an exhaustive inventory of measures in all the fields that the task of governing reaches daily. I will rather try to choose a set of preferred problems towards which I would like to lead this investiture debate, because it is important to all of us to get them right, to get their solution right, and because I believe that to get it right I must be open to the judgments and opinions of everyone. the deputies, no matter how different they are, and will be in many cases, from mine.
”This House has debated, over the last few months, and on repeated occasions, the economic situation of the country. I do not think I should go into an analysis whose features are known and whose diagnosis there is broad agreement. The repetition of this analysis has worn out the arguments and the words, and yet it seems vital to me to give the words back their meaning, to understand the real gravity of our economic situation and to accept the depth of the problems and their reciprocal connections.
”It is a fact that Spain has a very poor natural energy base, it is a fact that it depends on energy imports, it is a fact that it is very vulnerable to the rise in oil prices. Clear proof of this is that the increases registered in the last two years in the price of crude oil have impoverished our economy compared to the rest of the world by more than 15%. This is an objective fact prior to any economic or political doctrine, a fact that all citizens must know in order to adapt their behavior to it.
”The second objective feature that defines the current Spanish situation and that differentiates it relatively from that of other countries is the greater dimension that the industrial crisis has among us. And this is because Spain joined the industrialization process late and did not consolidate the established industries before the crisis. And this is because the intensity of energy consumption per unit of product is greater in Spain than in other countries that compete with us.
”And this is because the relative growth of labor costs was greater among us. And this is so, finally, because the industrial sectors, irreversibly damaged by the crisis, have a greater weight in our economy than in other European economies. These indisputable realities force a costly and difficult industrial reconversion program that requires for its execution a collective conviction so that everyone accepts, so that we all accept the important efforts that must be made.
”It is, thirdly, a clear fact that Spain did not have, when democracy arrived, effective economic institutions to adequately manage its scarce resources. Neither the public treasury had an ideal tax system, nor did the State Budgets include all public expenses, nor did the financial system respond to modernity criteria, nor was the labor relations framework comparable to that of Europe.
”In all these fields, reforms have had to be carried out that have not yet been completed and that must be completed. We must put citizens and social groups before this reality, no matter how bitter and hard it may seem to us, and that is the uncomfortable role that the Government will take on. We are going to flee from big promises in exchange for small sacrifices. A clear awareness must be created in the country of the difficulty of our economic problems and of solidarity responsibility as the only way to find an answer to them.
”This call for responsible conduct and behavior is reinforced by the latest data we have today. Indeed, for five months, the international economic situation has seen its prospects darken. Our neighbors already foresee a drop in the growth expectations that had been set for this year. We have suffered a new rise in oil prices and, in the interior, we are experiencing a weather situation that could seriously affect our agricultural production and our energy balance. .
”Faced with this pattern of adverse events, it is more necessary than ever to know how to choose the problems, organize their possible solutions and clearly establish the necessary actions. The economic situation is too serious to allow evasion and demands that we adopt compromised positions regarding it.
”There are six issues that, from now on, will focus the attention of my Government, if I obtain the investiture: One, the energy problem. Two, the articulation of effective decisions to create lasting jobs. Three, inflation monitoring. Four, a determined program of industrial reconversion and new industrial policy. Five, the liberalization of domestic economic activity, the maintenance of the freedom of exchanges with the outside world and the promotion of exports. Six, the delicate current situation of agriculture and fishing.
”I am going to refer now to the foreign action that my Government intends to carry out if I obtain the investiture.
”The demographic, economic and military reality of Spain forces us to put emphasis on foreign policy, rather than on what we commonly know as international policy. This means that, without forgetting due attention to major international issues, we intend to focus on our problems, on the defense of our specific interests and on active cooperation and friendship with those countries of the world that share the values and interests inherent to us. Spanish society today.
”Our foreign policy must preferably address the guarantee of our national security and the safeguarding of the integrity of our territory. For this reason, I want to make clear the close connection between foreign policy and defense policy, which are materially inseparable. It is not possible to achieve an acceptable degree of deterrence against external threats without strengthening armed institutions, served by adequate external action.
”As far as our European policy is concerned, I have to congratulate myself, we must all congratulate ourselves, that, in the search for national interest, we start from an important budget: the unanimity of the political parties regarding the integration of Spain into the Communities European. There are, of course, economic difficulties for this integration. But I want to reaffirm here the eminently political nature of our European option, which constitutes, above all, a historical objective of the first magnitude. In addition to our active presence in the Council of Europe, this objective will be achieved through our upcoming integration into the Common Market.
”Within our Western definition, I must devote my own separate consideration to our relationship with the United States and the Atlantic Alliance.
”In my opinion, a distancing between Western Europe and the United States cannot be considered as an objective, neither politically, nor economically, nor militarily. We must seek a balanced relationship of cooperation and solidarity, defining the areas of convergence and delimiting the points at which Europe, the progressively united Europe, can act on its own. But this does not prevent us from having to keep in mind the existence of underlying solidarity and common interests expressed politically in the Atlantic relationship and in the organization in which it crystallizes.
”Without ignoring that the incorporation of Spain into NATO is linked to other conditions of our foreign policy, the Government that I aspire to preside over reaffirms its Atlantic vocation, expressly expressed by the Union of the Democratic Center, and intends to begin consultations with the groups parliamentarians in order to articulate a majority, choose the moment and define the conditions and modalities in which Spain would be willing to participate in the Alliance.
”On the issue of autonomies, capital for Spain and for our future, my program has to be especially precise and unequivocal.
”On the one hand, I want to say that I fully and resolutely assume the autonomous option of the Constitution. Unión de Centro Democrático has contributed decisively to ensuring that the autonomous principle, as the basic principle of the organization of the State, is inscribed in our fundamental text and has then translated it into operational realities. Rarely will a State with the complexity and historical framework of the Spanish State have undertaken such an exciting and difficult path.
”It is a path of both hope and risks, in which I propose to measure the risks as much as possible so that hope can be better highlighted and affirmed better. A hope for improving our coexistence, for perfecting our collective life, for transforming public organization, for territorial redistribution of power, making it closer to citizens and, ultimately, more effective.
”Hence my firm intention to loyally and diligently comply with and apply the Catalan and Basque statutes, as well as to launch without delay those of Galicia and Andalusia, already unlocked, and, finally, to finalize the entire remaining autonomous process, which I would like to conclude it in this legislature. As far as Navarra is concerned, negotiations will continue with the Provincial Council for the agreed improvement of the jurisdiction, in accordance with the legal nature of the Provincial Regime.
”Now, and this is the second clarification that I am interested in leaving here, the autonomous construction must be carried out in its entirety and not in part, and, furthermore, with especially attentive political rigor and administrative rigor. That integrity includes the State itself, as is elementary. The State cannot be a simple warehouse of powers that are transferred or transferred to territorial units and in which in the end a more or less fortuitous residual set remains. On the contrary, the State is an essential piece of the autonomous system itself, which has to ensure the articulation of the whole, make its functioning possible and also make possible the final observance of the values of unity, solidarity and equality that the Constitution has imposed as a general picture of the system.
”It is, therefore, necessary that, while delving into the autonomous system, those exclusive or shared powers of the State be fine-tuned and technically outlined, without which the system would not function in the terms that the Constitution imposes. I propose, therefore, if I obtain this investiture, to work systematically in this direction, essential for the maintenance of the State, as well as for the social and political effectiveness of the autonomous communities.
”Yes, without hesitation or mental reservations or of any order, to the autonomies, in which I see not only an unavoidable mandate of the Constitution and the Statutes, but also a certain hope for our people, a hope that would be serious if it were frustrated. and that, rather, we must all serve with enthusiasm and resolution. But no, clearly not, to a light understanding of autonomies as the dissolution of a common homeland forged by history and called to effectively serve, not only culturally, but also politically, all its men.
”No, therefore, to the dismantling of the State, whose strength must rather be the first guarantee that autonomies are affirmed, deepened and developed within a common structure that makes them possible. Strong autonomy in a strong State: that could be the final key to the story that the Government is willing to develop if I become inaugurated.
”Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to discuss now, very briefly, the policy that, in terms of citizen security, my Government will apply if I obtain the investiture.
”Any system of political freedom is a function of the conditions for its exercise. Freedom demands legal guarantees and judicial protection. It also demands equal opportunities, so as not to be the property of a few. And it demands, finally, an environment of social respect of strict compliance with the laws, of public order in short, of security.
”When citizens feel the primary values of their peaceful existence are in danger, the greatest enemy of freedom appears, which is fear. And then, interested voices arise, amplifying fears and announcing catastrophes to unite this great heritage of all of us, which is simply summarized in one phrase: living in democracy and freedom.
”It is fair to recognize here the support that the parties representing this House have provided in the fundamental and most dramatic moments, supporting anti-terrorist action. And it is necessary to repeat here once again that this collaboration will continue to be indispensable because the problem is not only, as is often said, a State problem, but it is the great problem that puts the very reality of the State at risk. And at this moment, when the pressure of terror is beginning to overcome, I must affirm that the Government's action will be reinforced along several lines already initiated:
”A political action with a real and unreserved development of what is established in the norms of the Statutes, whose reality has morally disqualified the action of violence that no longer has justification or political pretext. A legal action, through the criminal classification of the crime of terrorism in the Penal Code and the figures that require mobility and variety with which these events are occurring.
”A judicial action through the constant presence of the Public Prosecutor's Office, from the first proceedings, both to guarantee the rights of the person of the detainee, and to encourage rapid and effective action by Justice. A police action, with the improvement, both quantitative and qualitative, of the services in coordination with the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, through the Security Board.
”An energetic policy aimed at preventing violence and irrationality from reaching, even exceptionally, the actions of State servants, in whom society has seen and always wants to see all the dignity, all the self-denial and all the sacrifice that the lawful defense of justice and democracy demands.
”An action based on international cooperation, especially with regard to bilateral or multilateral Treaties and judicial and administrative practices in matters of extradition and territorial asylum. In summary of all of the above, I have to point out once again that we conceive the defense of citizen security as an inseparable chapter from the defense of freedom and democracy.
”It has been said that Spanish society has experienced the political transition with exceptional maturity, and this is true, but perhaps we still lack, in this process of maturation since the dictatorship, a certain will to assume greater responsibilities in collective affairs that correspond to society in a regime of freedoms. From there to disenchantment, trust and systematic criticism, there is but one step.
”Once the political transition is over, a stage of democratic normality has already been inaugurated (despite the many problems that afflict us), the Government that I form, if I obtain the investiture, will face its responsibilities with all the authority and firmness of its origin democratic, faithful to its principles and without the concern of getting ahead of others, sure of finding within the term of the legislature the first solutions to the main issues raised.
"Thank you so much."
