The controversial amnesty for supporters of Catalan independence is a done deal. The political opposition in Spain is furious.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Deputy Prime Minister Maria Jesus Montero in parliament Photo: Susana Vera/Reuters
MADRID taz | Exactly 200 days after the Socialists led by Pedro Sánchez, who governed in coalition with the left-wing Sumar alliance, presented the impunity law, it was finally passed on Thursday. Spain therefore has an amnesty for the people convicted and legally prosecuted due to the independence process and the Catalan independence referendum on October 1, 2017.
177 MPs from Sumar, as well as smaller left-wing formations and regional parties, including pro-independence supporters from Catalonia, voted in favor. 172 MPs from the ranks of the Popular Party (PP), the far-right VOX and regional right-wing formations voted against. A Podemos MP stayed away from the vote.
Joy of the Republican Left of Catalonia
About 400 people will benefit, including several police officers charged with an operation against voters on referendum day. Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) assessed the vote as a “historic day” and “victory”. The ERC leader and former vice president of the Catalan government, Oriol Junqueras, who was convicted of insurrection and subsequently pardoned, watched the vote from the stands. The head of Together for Catalonia (JxCat), former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, is still in exile.
ERC and JxCat, which together have fourteen representatives in parliament, had deprived Sánchez of the amnesty. In return, they supported the inauguration of his minority government last fall. Cries of “Traitor!” came from the right-wing opposition when Prime Minister Sánchez stood up and uttered his “Sí” during the roll-call vote. Previously, both the PP and VOX had accused the Socialists of selling out Spain. The law is “political corruption”.
In recent months, the PP repeatedly led to protests against the law called. The party, which has an absolute majority in the second chamber, the Senate, has postponed the consideration of the amnesty law there as long as this was legally possible. Now that it has been adopted, conservatives want to go to the Constitutional Court. However, this will not delay the application of the amnesty.
Everyone looks at Puigdemont
The legal measures against the independence supporters and against the police officers deployed on the day of the 2017 referendum should be withdrawn as soon as the law is published in the Official Gazette. The judges then have two months to stop the procedure completely. However, they still have the option to go to the Constitutional Court and European authorities for advice.
In Spain everyone is now looking at Carles Puigdemont, who lives in exile. Once the arrest warrant against him is withdrawn, he can return to Spain. In June, the Catalan parliament, which was elected in May, will vote on a future autonomous government. Puigdemont, whose JxCat became the second strongest force, wants to move back to the government palace in Barcelona. He remained there until the Catalan government was deposed under a constitutional article following the referendum and declaration of independence.