Mariano Rajoy, who was president of the government in 2017, when the process reached its zenith with the celebration of the tumultuous 1-O and the failed declaration of independence, considers that what allowed the situation in Catalonia to be restored was the application of the mechanism provided for in Article 155 and not the measures that Pedro Sánchez's government has subsequently approved, including the promised amnesty.
Among the voices of the PP that have demonstrated against the agreements of the PSOE and the independentists, that of Mariano Rajoy is the one that has expressed the least, despite the fact that he participated in the first act of the PP against the amnesty. Hence, his intervention, yesterday in the presentation of the President of Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, at an informative breakfast organized by Forum Europe, is especially relevant.
There he responded to Pedro Sánchez, who in the investiture speech given on Wednesday, “just made me responsible” for the events that are now being sought for amnesty.
Mariano Rajoy rebels against “the message given to those who seek to liquidate the Constitution and the laws” that pacification in Catalonia is “thanks to dialogue.” His answer is no. "No. “Pacification consists of applying the law, and when the application of article 155 was launched, no one again tried to liquidate the Constitution and the laws, because they knew that there was an instrument that could put them in their place.”
According to Rajoy, 155 “united the majority of Spaniards”, while “what is now represents the greatest stage of division and polarization”, and in the opinion of the former president “155 represents a clear message that Spanish democracy "It has instruments to defend itself when it is attacked, if there is a serious government that defends it," the complete opposite of what, in his opinion, is happening now.
The former president of the government dedicated the presentation of the Galician president to analyzing the political situation and showed his concern about the new legislature, “the most decisive in recent decades” because, Rajoy said, “strength and independence are going to be tested.” of our institutions and the courage of civil society.” It will be, in his opinion, a “decisive legislature for the future of coexistence and for the validity of our constitutional text.”
Rajoy considers that Pedro Sánchez's account of what happened in those years in Catalonia has provoked "very fair indignation" from citizens and social organizations, and values his performance, in which he had the support of the PSOE. “When I applied Article 155, I defended the law and the Constitution, and I did so with the support of the judiciary and the majority of citizens.” In his opinion, “applying it served to defend the Constitution and the laws,” and not what is intended to be done now.
Without having anything to say - he pointed out - about the appointment of the President of the Government and the majority that has supported him, there is a fear that he will not govern for the majority of Spaniards, but for "their majority", a fear founded on the speeches of Pedro Sánchez's partners.
For this reason, he asked the president for “a rectification and not to do more damage than he is already doing” because, he reminded him, there are things that in democracy, a government with a majority “cannot do,” such as “going against the law and Constitution, which is what is at stake,” he indicated, with the amnesty and self-determination.
Rajoy was blunt: "They will say yes, that the amnesty falls within the Constitution, but they know that is not the case," and that everything responds to "a deliberate plan to undermine the independence of justice."
Rajoy predicted a legislature that “will be put to an end from Brussels,” and will test “the civic and social courage and independence of the institutions.” However, he was optimistic because in Spain "there is energy and talent to resist this project of mutation of the constitutional pact."
This hope is based on the fact that “there are solid institutions and committed citizens” and that the PP exists, “the best instrument to provide a political response to this situation and lead the civic resistance to the challenge posed.”
And within the PP he highlighted the role played by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, “the most intellectually, politically and morally prepared to tear down that wall of sectarianism that some want to build”, who also has the power of city councils and autonomous communities, “the best "weapon of defense against the attack that the country and the Constitution are going to suffer" by "a majority of contradictory interests."
In fact, the Galician president yesterday joined the request for a conference of presidents, as other PP presidents have requested, with the warning that it is mandatory that he call it if the majority of the presidents request it. Meanwhile, the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, is preparing to participate in a new demonstration today, although this time not called by the PP, and he asks those who wait for changes in the party's leadership to "calm down."
