The socialist group has registered this afternoon alone in the Congress of Deputies the proposal for an organic amnesty law that should allow the investiture of Pedro Sánchez next Thursday with the votes of Sumar, ERC, Junts, PNV, EH Bildu, BNG and Canarian Coalition (CC). It was expected that the proposal would bear the signature of all the partners except CC, which in the end did not occur and only bears that of the PSOE spokesperson, Patxi López.
This circumstance has generated the interest of journalists in the press conference offered by the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, in Congress, one hour after the law was registered. The minister, who appeared as a PSOe deputy and member of the socialist executive commission, did not want to go into the details of the last-minute negotiations and left the explanation of why the PSOE signed alone to the rest of the parliamentary groups that have chosen not to sign it. In any case, Bolaños has stressed that the norm will go forward in Congress with the support of 178 votes, therefore, with the yes of PSOE, Sumar, ERC, Junts, Bildu, PNV and BNG. Canarian Coalition departs from this norm although it will vote in favor of the investiture of Pedro Sánchez.
"We have a broad consensus. We have 178 votes, I say this with full knowledge of the facts," insisted the minister, who has launched a broad explanation of the content of the norm, with special attention to the explanatory statement of the same, which focuses on its constitutionality and its desire to "guarantee political coexistence."
Bolaños defined the amnesty as "the most powerful and useful tool that the Cortes Generales have to solve a entrenched problem", in reference to the Catalan crisis, and claimed its historical significance by predicting that "with time, we will realize that (the amnesty law) was essential to have a normalized political coexistence."
The minister also had words for those who may harbor some "concern" or doubt about the rule, but insisted that the law is "deeply constitutional in terms of its purpose and motivation" because, in fact, "it coincides with the objective of the Charter Magna when he talks about guaranteeing constitutional coexistence." Bolaños said he "understands the concern," but was sure that a reading of the explanatory memorandum of the bill will have "dispelled" that feeling. "It is a rule to make Spain better," so that "our country will be more livable" and "it will improve coexistence and heal wounds," he predicted.
Regarding the effective application of the law, the leader pointed out that it should be the judges who are in charge of it. The minister has been optimistic about this, without doubting that "all the courts will apply it and it will finally achieve the purpose, that coexistence will be better", but he did not want to go into specific cases because "it has to be them (the courts). who judge whether specific cases are inside or outside".
It is a law that the PSOE has presented, convinced that "it is impeccable from a constitutional point of view" and that it represents a "giant step towards reunion" and "to heal wounds", it will also be processed through the emergency procedure, protection of article 93 of the Rules of the Chamber. But Bolaños has been cautious with the deadlines for its entry into force, aware that the norm will come up against, among other things, a reform of the Senate regulations at the initiative of the PP that will delay its processing for a couple of months.
Sánchez will be elected on Thursday in the first vote with 179 votes in favor to easily surpass the absolute majority and thus be re-elected in the first vote. Meanwhile, the amnesty law proposal will continue its parliamentary course. It provides for the forgetting of all acts determining criminal, administrative or accounting liability, executed within the framework of the consultations held in Catalonia on November 9, 2014 and October 1, 2017, their preparation or their consequences. , provided that they were carried out between January 1, 2012 and November 13, 2023.
The text indicates that "the amnesty covers not only the organization and celebration of the consultation and the referendum, but also other possible crimes that have a deep connection with them, such as, for example, the preparatory acts, the different protest actions to allow their celebration or show opposition to the prosecution or conviction of those responsible, also including assistance, collaboration, advice or representation of any type, protection and security to those responsible, as well as all acts object of this Law that "accredit a political, social and institutional tension that this norm aspires to resolve in accordance with the powers that the Constitution confers on the Cortes Generales."
The text states that it is a "singular law to channel the political situation and promote solutions" for the conflict in Catalonia. At the same time, he affirms that the amnesty "cannot be interpreted as a departure from our legal framework."
