The Association of Spanish Military Officers (AME) has released a manifesto, signed by at least fifty retired senior military commanders, in which they ask active members of the Armed Forces to dismiss the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to convene a new general election. The text made public, dated yesterday – the day of the investiture – hides the names of the signatories.
As La Vanguardia has learned, all the division generals, brigadier generals, colonels, lieutenant colonels, commanders and captains who sign the manifesto are retired, so the disciplinary regime of the Armed Forces cannot be applied to them. Some of the signatories were part of the WhatsApp group in which it was stated that we should "start shooting 26 million sons of bitches."
The manifesto, advanced by InfoLibre, the retired military, who declare themselves "concerned about the future of Spain", denounce the "harassment of the Rule of Law by taking over the Executive power of the majority of the judicial bodies", which "annuls the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers".
In the published text, the military makes their particular review of the current situation in the country. For them, the current composition of the Constitutional Court lacks "neutrality", since there are magistrates who have "recently" held relevant political positions in the Government. "The excess of the functions of this court, assuming the corrective role of the rulings of the Supreme Court, a function that does not correspond to it as it is not integrated into the judicial power." Of its president, Cándido Conde-Pumpido, they point out that "he has a background that does not allow the neutrality of his actions."
They also refer to the State Attorney General's Office, "prone to the permanent assumption of the dictates of the Executive Branch and against its mission, which is to promote the action of Justice in defense of legality, the rights of citizens and the public interest protected by law, as well as ensuring the independence of the courts and seeking before them the satisfaction of the social interest."
The retired soldiers also criticize the pardons "for the criminals of the October 2017 coup", the suppression of sedition and the reform of embezzlement "solely for political interests." They then move on to the amnesty agreed by the Government with the pro-independence parties, to ensure that it has no place in the Constitution. They insist that it would eliminate equality before the law and erase the crimes of October 2017 "for the sole personal interest" of Sánchez to be invested as president of the Government. This, you see, "leaves the rule of law defenseless by annulling the sentences and procedures in force of the criminals who were the protagonists of said coup."
"The possible rupture of the unity of the nation, unique and indivisible, by accepting for the aforementioned investiture the holding of a self-determination referendum, and having accepted the name for Catalonia of 'national minority' with the privileges that it entails in International Law ", they add.
In addition, they censure "the attack on the Armed Forces, with the transfer of barracks and elimination of military parades", among other issues, and the "contempt for the State Security Corps and Forces" for the "disappearance of the Civil Guard of Navarra, the transfer of police stations in Catalonia and the continued violation of the borders by illegal immigrants, without the Government duly defending them". And, with respect to international politics, they point out "the contempt for the Cortes" for the "surprising" change of opinion on the Sahara.
The signatories resort to article 8.1 of the Spanish Constitution, which states that the missions of the Armed Forces, in addition to guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of Spain and the defense of its territorial unity, have the obligation to defend the constitutional order. And the latter, as they consider, is "in serious danger due to the lack of judicial independence, the inequality of Spanish citizens before the law and the possible breakdown of the unity of the Spanish Nation."
That is why the group of retired military personnel—"concerned about the future of Spain," they insist—ask "those responsible for the defense of the constitutional order" for the dismissal of the President of the Government and the calling of general elections.
