Spain: Catalan separatists reject amnesty bill

The most radical separatists, who want to ensure that their leader Carles Puigdemont, on the run in Belgium, can return homesaid the proposed law did not go far enough to protect him.

The bill must be returned to a parliamentary committee to be redrafted within two weeks, but it remains to be seen what the government and separatists can do to save it.

This rejection highlighted the fragility of the governmentt, even among its so-called allies. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez accepted the law in exchange for parliamentary support from two small Catalan separatist parties, which allowed him to form a new left-wing minority government at the end of last year.

But the bill, which sparked the ire of millions of people in Spain, was rejected after one of the two Catalan parties, Junts (Together), voted against. This party haslobbied to include clauses which would protect Mr. Puigdemont against all possible legal proceedings if he returned to Spain.

“There is no reason to approve an amnesty law with loopholes.”, said Míriam Nogueras, member of the Junts. She said the socialists had warned them that the proposed amendments “could mean that the amnesty law has problems in Europe“, but she added that they were ready to face this eventuality.

The socialist minister of justicee, Félix Bolaños, told reporters that he was “absolutely incomprehensible that the Junta votes against a law that it approved“and she does it with right-wing parties who want to see them imprisoned. Mr. Puigdemont’s party had warned Mr. Sánchez from the start that it would be difficult to satisfy him when he supported his government, but few analysts had imagined that he would risk derail the very amnesty that is designed to help its supporters.

Scathing defeat for Pedro Sánchez

This defeat shows that the government will be at the mercy separatists throughout the legislature. Sánchez’s minority coalition has 147 seats, but it needs the support of several smaller parties to secure a majority of 176 seats in the 350-seat parliament. Junts has seven seats.

The former Catalan president is wanted by the Supreme Court of Spain for disobedience and embezzlementand two lower courts are investigating him and other secessionists for possible terrorism and treason charges.

The amnesty bill has been heavily criticized by conservative and far-right opposition parties, which represent around half of the country’s population. Many members of the judiciary and the police are opposed to itas did several figures from Mr. Sánchez’s party.

Even if the bill had been approved, it would have had to be submitted to the Senate, where the People’s Party, leader of the fiercely conservative opposition, has an absolute majority. This party has pledged to do everything in its power to block the bill in the Senate and challenge it in court.

Pedro Sánchez recognizes that if he had not needed the parliamentary support for the Catalan separatists, he would not have accepted the amnesty. He also claims that without their support he would not have been able to form a government and that the right could have come to powerhaving won the largest number of seats in the 2023 elections.

The head of government says that amnesty will be positive for Spain because it will further calm Catalonia, and he boasts that his policies for Catalonia since coming to power in 2018 have significantly eased the tensions that existed between Madrid and Barcelona when the Popular Party was in power.

The previous government of Pedro Sánchez granted pardons to several imprisoned leaders of the Catalan independence movement, which helped heal the wounds.