The organic amnesty law for institutional, political and social normalization in Catalonia is already on the Congress Table and begins its parliamentary processing. The legislative initiative, which will amnesty “criminal, administrative and accounting responsibilities related to the process” from January 2012 to November 13, 2023, was presented urgently at six in the afternoon by the PSOE, alone.
A fact that the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, downplayed yesterday by ensuring that he has an absolute majority to move forward. There will be 178 yeses from Sumar, ERC, Junts, PNV, Bildu and BNG, with the exception of the Canarian Coalition, which will vote against, although it will support the investiture, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. Pedro Sánchez will be re-elected president the day after tomorrow.
Bolaños defended the “general interest” of a law that seeks to “heal wounds and resolve the conflict in Catalonia” which, according to the preamble of the law, began with the 2010 ruling against the Statute. A legislative initiative that is “fully constitutional” and “respectful of the Constitution in its purpose and motivation” to return to “politics what belongs to politics.”
He assured that “no democracy is built by denying majorities or debates.” The minister added that "the Constitution is defended by dialogue between people who think differently within the legal system."
The rule will benefit 309 people who now have criminal cases, in addition to the 73 national police officers who are awaiting trial for participating in the altercations during the 1-O, in days before and after, and thirty of those prosecuted by the Court of Accounts .
The beneficiaries will not only be political leaders, but also people who have not had any role during the process, but who have been able to commit acts considered a crime, such as school directors, administration officials such as firefighters or police officers.
In the explanatory memorandum, which has little to do with the text between parties agreed with Junts, it is established that “law is a tool that strengthens and looks to the future”, a “difficult path, but brave and reconciliatory.” Bolaños said that it has taken him months to agree on a rule that “guarantees coexistence in Catalonia.”
To prepare the text, which according to Bolaños, is very different from the amnesty proposal that was rejected in 2021, they have based themselves on the Spanish legal system and the constitutional precedent of previous amnesty laws, specifically that of 1977. Also in about fifty laws approved in other countries around Europe on penal oblivion. They include both those nations that have the amnesty included in their Constitution, as well as those that do not have an express mention, such as Germany, Sweden or Belgium. In addition, reference is made to around thirty international treaties that Spain has signed and in which criminal neglect is addressed.
It also incorporates a ruling from the Constitutional Court that rules on the issue and affirms “taxatively” that there is no “restriction” for the amnesty laws.
Initially it was planned to register the law in the morning. In fact, work was carried out on the text, outlining some of the issues until early morning, but in the end the presentation in Congress could not be made until the afternoon.
Officially, the delay occurred due to technical issues to shield the legislative initiative. But the reality is that the competition between Junts and ERC to obtain profits from criminal oblivion complicated the process and finally the socialists decided not to wait any longer for the competition, this time from the Republicans, who were creating obstacles. For this reason, they decided in the end to present it alone and have Bolaños appear, without any other political leader from any other party.
The minister had words for all those who had felt restless these days. He asked them to calm down and assured that once they know the text it will be difficult for them to be against a norm that is committed to “coexistence and dialogue” that will make “our country better.”
He also made reference to the world of the judiciary to clarify that it will be the judges who decide who is amnestied. He did not want to talk about specific cases such as that of the former president of the Parliament, Laura Borràs, or the lawyer of former president Carles Puigdemont, Gonzalo Boye.
Among those who benefit and whose disqualification will be lifted would be the main leaders already prosecuted by 1-O such as the leader of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, the secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, and Puigdemont himself.
The truth is that the mention of lawfare, judicialization of politics, included in the pact between PSOE and Junts, does not appear in the 24 pages of the law. Yesterday the Supreme Court sent a harsh statement in which it denounced the judges' "attempt to control." For the magistrates, the agreement opens the way for parliamentary investigative commissions to evaluate whether there were cases of “instrumentalization of Justice” to harm political opponents during the process.
The rejection not only comes from the judiciary, after the demonstrations against the amnesty last Sunday, yesterday the deputy secretary of organization of the PP, Miguel Tellado, said that Sánchez should "leave the country in a trunk", while Santiago Abascal claimed to the Supreme Court the “paralysis” of the investiture.
