Consensus, harmony and a look to the future. The hug that Juan Genovés painted in 1976, converted into an international emblem of reconciliation, had its transcript in the Congress of Deputies on October 14, 1977, when the Amnesty law proposal formulated jointly by the parliamentary groups of Unión was voted. of the Democratic Center, Socialist Congress, Communist, Basque-Catalan Minority, Mixed and Socialists of Catalonia at the proposal of the PNV. That is, the entire parliamentary arc with the exception of the original Popular Alliance, which nevertheless ended up abstaining.
It was a historic parliamentary session in which good harmony prevailed within the discrepancy and the will to turn the page to open a new democratic stage, ending the two Spains. The amnesty was not presented only as a clean slate, but as the liquidation of a Penal Code typical of a dictatorship, even though it left numerous politically motivated blood crimes unpunished.
Marcelino Camacho defended his approval as spokesman for the Communist Minority of the Communist Party of Spain and the Unified Socialist Part of Catalonia; Donato Fuejo as representative of the Mixed Parliamentary Group, where the Popular Socialist Party of Tierno Galván joined; Josep Maria Triginer, representative of Socialistes de Catalunya, the coalition between the PSC and the PSOE of Catalonia, which had its own parliamentary group; Txiki Benegas, spokesperson for the Socialist Group; Xabier Arzalluz, representative of the Catalan and Basque Minorities and one of the architects of the proposal, and Rafael Arias-Salgado, representative of the Democratic Center Union of Adolfo Suárez. It is the speech that we offer in its entirety.
The bill was approved that same day with 296 votes in favor, 18 abstentions, 2 votes against and one invalid, that of a deputy who pressed two keys. One of the two negative vetoes was argued in the session: Hipólito Gómez de las Roces, deputy of the Aragonese Independent Center Candidacy, precursor of the Aragonese Regionalist Party, and future president of Aragon. He argued the “legal inaccuracies” of the text and its express processing. The other vote against was that of the socialist deputy for Barcelona Julio Busquets, founder and first secretary of the Democratic Military Union, whose members were left out of this law.
“Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen:
”Unión de Centro Democrático has participated in the preparation of the joint bill on amnesty that is submitted today for deliberation in this chamber. Consequently, the parliamentary group on whose behalf I speak intends to support the vote in favor of its approval. The reasons that underpin our attitude are diverse, but they all have a common background.
”We are aware that political amnesty, in itself, is not the concrete solution to any specific problem. It is not even unthinkable from the point of view of strict justice, because unable to avoid as an act of grace the mere comparative offense with common crimes, the amnesty would never be sufficiently fair.
"Nor does it exclude, unfortunately, the commission of crimes similar or identical in their effects to those whose existence it erases, although here and now we assume the hope that they will not be repeated, because from now on, starting today, we will invariably ask that they be apply the law with all its consequences.
”It happens, however, that in the amnesty, substantially, a political decision constitutes a necessary measure at certain moments in the history of peoples, especially those whose life journey as a collective is characterized by marked oscillations, and in all cases we believe that amnesty is necessary whenever the goal is to build something new.
"As long as the goal is to lay the foundations for a new coexistence, and today we, all of us and many others who do not sit in the seats of the Cortes, are trying to make an old and heartfelt aspiration come true that has never been solidified." roots in the history of Spain: the definitive institutionalization of a democratic state of law, which protects the freedom of all and in which everyone, with respect for others, finds their place.
”The amnesty is the ethical-political budget of democracy, of that democracy to which we aspire that, because it is authentic, does not look back, but rather, fervently, wants to overcome and transcend the divisions that separated us and confronted us in the past. . In short, we want democracy, whose establishment we pursue, not to belong to anyone in particular, but to all Spaniards, so that everyone can feel a participant in its birth.
”Only in this way will it be born with moral authority and political authority, without risks of partiality; Only then will it be able to settle on firm foundations and take root; Only in this way, finally, will all those who voluntarily marginalize themselves due to their unjustifiable and inadmissible violent resources and methods and on whom the new democratic institutions, after this amnesty, and with all the weight of the authority that confers popular support, it will have to pronounce its firmest, most emphatic and energetic condemnation.
”The UCD, with this purpose, assumes the amnesty that we are going to vote on today, and with it it picks up, as its own, the banner of an essential, necessary and deeply desirable reconciliation, whose full significance will occur when the process of reconciliation is completed. modification and adaptation of laws to a democratic situation that this chamber is destined to promote and conclude.
”The amnesty allows us all, I think absolutely all of us, to look to the future with dignity; Hence it makes complete sense that the decision takes the form of a bill. That is, its incorporation into the legal system occurs as an initiative of these democratic Courts.
”That is why we wanted to join together and contribute to the purpose of other political groups. We, as a parliamentary group, recognize, as is logical, the effort made so far by the Government to cover the first steps of the transition, but, at the same time, we have the firm conviction that to put an end to it is need the broadest consensus on the issue of amnesty. That is why we wanted to be present in the final preparation of a joint bill.
”It is possible that precisely because it is common to the vast majority of the groups in this chamber it leaves some with a final ember of dissatisfaction, but we believe that its breadth is such that it allows us to overcome the past and begin to build what we really need: to erect and outline democratic institutions that guide the coexistence of all Spaniards.
”In any case, the virtuality of an almost unique consensus, and I hope it was unique, on the amnesty contemplated by this bill, produces infinitely greater benefits for our country than any other solution. This also makes it accessible to large sectors of the population who might have reasonable doubts about this issue.
”The UCD, consequently, unreservedly supports this amnesty, in the deep conviction that it will contribute to definitively overcoming an issue whose solution cannot be delayed any longer, in the conviction also that it will contribute to providing the nascent democratic state with solidity. and the strength we need to face our immediate future with hope and authority.
"Thank you so much."
