The PSOE's intention to reform the crime of sedition is the latest in a long list of arguments that the Popular Party has used since 2018 to paralyze the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), whose mandate expired in December of that year. The alliances of Pedro Sánchez in the Congress of Deputies, the successive regional elections and the policy of the Executive in relation to Catalonia and the procés have ruined the negotiations since then.
PSOE and PP reached an agreement to renew the CGPJ in November 2018. The names of the 20 members had already been decided, as well as the president, who was going to be Manuel Marchena. But the WhatsApp message from the popular spokesman in the Senate, Ignacio Cosidó, which was leaked, blew up the pact.
In the group of popular senators, Cosidó celebrated the renewal, with which, according to what he said, "future renewals of two thirds of the TS and hundreds of appointments in the Judiciary" were at stake. In addition, he welcomed the election of Marchena: " He is a great jurist with a leadership capacity and authority so that the votes are not 11-10, but close to 21-0. And also controlling the second room from behind and presiding over room 61". After the leak, Marchena resigned from presiding over the body and the PP ended up breaking the agreement.
In August 2020, with Pablo Casado at the head, the popular refused to agree with Sánchez after the agreements reached by the president for the investiture with Podemos and the nationalist and independence parties. "There is no possible pact with those who ask for the abdication of the King, the independence of Catalonia and the whitening of batasunos," said the popular leader at the time.
Shortly after, the PP used a similar argument again, after considering that Vice President Pablo Iglesias had "attacked" King Felipe VI for some statements about the departure of Juan Carlos I from Spain.
With the Catalan elections just around the corner, at the end of 2020, the popular formation preferred to wait for the elections in the Parliament, which would be held on February 14, 2021. They also warned that they could not pardon the politicians condemned by the procés if there was a will to agree on the renewal. Then there were elections in the Community of Madrid and they also chose to postpone the negotiation.
After the Madrid elections, the PP made a reform of the CGPJ subject to a change in the system for electing its members. The formation led by Casado marked the condition that the judges be chosen by the judges and urged Pedro Sánchez to "accept judicial independence."
In the summer of 2021, any possible agreement between the PSOE and the PP was blown up by the granting of pardons to those convicted of the procés. Casado accused the Government of "blocking" the renewal of the judiciary by "attacking" the main constitutional bodies.
After the summer of 2021, the popular ones maintained their refusal. The party's then spokesman in the Senate, Javier Maroto, attributed the failure to change the members of the CGPJ to the direction of the Executive. "Sanchez is not a normal president," he said. Before the end of last year, the conservative party once again insisted on the "depoliticization" of justice and on the desire to "equate" the model for electing judges to the European system. It demanded a reform of the Organic Law of the Judiciary to, in parallel, renew the CGPJ.
In March, the PP opened a new stage with a change in leadership: Alberto Núñez Feijóo replaced Casado at the head of the party. Even so, there were no substantial changes in his position on the unblocking of the judiciary. The Andalusian elections in May 2022 were considered by the PP as an obstacle to reaching an imminent agreement with the Socialists. Even so, Feijóo assured that he would present a reform proposal after the elections.
To force the popular to reach an agreement, last July, the Government reformed the law of the appointments of the members of the Constitutional Court. The new text prevented the CGPJ from appointing new members of the TC if their mandate had expired, as was the case. But the PP asked to withdraw this legislative reform as a precondition for reaching an agreement.
After the start of the new political course, the party headed by Feijóo demanded, once again, to reform the system of electing judges and, simultaneously, to renew the CGPJ and the TC.
This week, with the reform of the crime of sedition in the public debate, the popular ones have backed down again. The resignation of Lesmes, three weeks ago, seemed to be the determining factor that summoned both parties to materialize an agreement imminently.
After the intense conversations between the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, and the Deputy Secretary of Institutional Policy of the PP, Esteban González Pons, everything pointed to an agreement that was going to be announced between Friday and the beginning of next week, according to reports. PSOE ministers have been explaining publicly. But, finally, the PP has suspended the negotiation due to the Government's willingness to lower the penalties for the crime of sedition in the Penal Code.
