Mariano Rajoy, who was president of the central government in 2017, when the process reached its zenith with the celebration of the tumultuous 1-O and the failed declaration of independence, believes that what allowed the situation to be restored in Catalonia was the application of the mechanism provided for in article 155 and not the measures that have since been approved by the Government of Pedro Sánchez, including the amnesty promise.
Among the voices of the PP that have expressed themselves against the agreements of the PSOE and the pro-independence parties, that of Mariano Rajoy is the one that has been the least generous despite the fact that he participated in the first act of the PP against the amnesty. That is why his intervention yesterday at the presentation of the president of Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, at an informative breakfast organized by Fórum Europa is particularly important.
There he responded to Pedro Sánchez, who in the investiture speech delivered on Wednesday "almost made me responsible" for the events that are now sought to be amnestied.
Rajoy rebels against "the message given to those who intend to liquidate the Constitution and the laws" that pacification in Catalonia is "thanks to dialogue". His answer is no. "No. Appeasement consists of applying the law, and when the application of Article 155 was launched, no one tried to liquidate the Constitution and the laws again, because they knew that there was an instrument that could put them in their place ".
According to Rajoy, 155 "united the majority of Spaniards", while "this now represents the stage of greatest division and polarization", and in the opinion of the former president "155 represents a clear message that Spanish democracy has instruments to defend itself when it is attacked, if there is a serious government that defends it", contrary to what, in his opinion, is happening now.
The former head of the executive dedicated the Galician president's presentation to analyzing the political situation and showed his concern for the new legislature, "the most decisive of the last decades" because, said Rajoy, "they will be put to the test the strength and independence of our institutions and the courage of civil society". It will be, in his opinion, a "decisive legislature for the future of coexistence and for the validity of our constitutional text".
Rajoy considers that Sánchez's account of what happened during those years in Catalonia has provoked "the very just indignation" of citizens and social organizations and highlights his action, in which he had the support of the PSOE. "When I applied article 155, I defended the law and the Constitution, and I did it with the support of the Judiciary and the majority of citizens." In his opinion, "applying it served to defend the Constitution and the laws", and not what is intended to be done now.
Without having anything to say - he pointed out - about the appointment of the president of Spain and the majority that has supported him, he did express his fear that he would not govern for the majority of Spaniards, but for "his majority" , a fear based on the speeches of Sánchez's partners.
That is why he asked the president "for a rectification and not to do more harm than what he is already doing" because, he reminded him, there are things that in a democracy a government with a majority "cannot do", such as "going against the law and the Constitution, which is what is at stake", he indicated, with amnesty and self-determination.
Rajoy was definitive: "They will say that yes, that amnesty is included in the Constitution, but they know that it is not so" and that everything responds to "a deliberate plan to undermine the independence of justice".
Rajoy predicted a legislature that "will be put to an end from Brussels", and will test "civic and social courage and the independence of the institutions". Nevertheless, he was optimistic because in Spain "there is energy and talent to resist this project of mutation of the constitutional pact".
This hope is based on the fact that "there are solid institutions and committed citizens", and that the PP exists, "the best instrument to give a political response to this situation and lead the civic resistance to the challenge posed".
And within the PP he emphasized the role played by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, "the most intellectually, politically and morally prepared to demolish this wall of sectarianism that some want to build" who, in addition, has the power of town councils, autonomous communities , "the best weapon of defense against the attack that the country and the Constitution will suffer" by "a majority of contradictory interests".
In fact, the Galician president yesterday joined the request for a conference of presidents, as other presidents of the PP have requested, with the caveat that it is mandatory to call it if the majority of presidents request it. Meanwhile, Núñez Feijóo is preparing to take part in a new demonstration today, although this time not called by the PP, and to those who are waiting for change, the management asks them to "calm down".
