Acting Spanish PM on verge of second term after controversial Catalan amnesty deal
Sam Jones
Pedro Sánchez is on the verge of winning congressional backing for a second term as Spain’s prime minister after securing the support of Catalan separatist parties by agreeing to a controversial amnesty for hundreds of people involved in the failed push for regional independence six years ago.
Wednesday’s investiture debate – which will be followed by a vote on Thursday that the socialist leader already has the numbers to win – is expected to bring an end to months of political deadlock following July’s inconclusive snap general election.
Although the conservative People’s party (PP) narrowly defeated Sánchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE), it has proved unable to form a government, even with the backing of the far-right Vox party and other, smaller groupings.
The PSOE and its partners in the leftwing Sumar coalition have managed to secure the necessary votes by enlisting the support of Catalan and Basque nationalists and other regional parties.
Negotiations, however, have not been cheap or easy. Catalonia’s two main pro-independence parties – the pragmatic Catalan Republican Left (ERC) and the more hardline Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia) – only agreed to back Sánchez after he accepted their demands for an amnesty.
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Key events
Spain’s People’s party urges EU to intervene over Catalan amnesty law
Sam Jones
Spain’s conservative People’s party (PP) has urged the EU to weigh in on the controversial Catalan amnesty law tabled by the ruling socialists, claiming it demands the kind of action the bloc has previously taken when concerns over the rule of law have arisen in Poland, Hungary and Romania.
Rightwing Spanish parties have accused Pedro Sánchez, the PSOE leader and caretaker prime minister, of debasing democracy and using the amnesty as a cynical ploy to remain in power. About 70% of Spanish voters are opposed, and huge demonstrations against the move were held across Spain on Sunday.
The PP stepped up its attack on the proposed law as Spain’s congress prepared for the investiture debate that is almost certain to result in Sánchez winning a new term in office on Thursday.
The PP’s leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, said Spain was facing “an unprecedented situation” and called on the EU to step in.
“Tomorrow’s investiture is a done deal … and the amnesty is a direct payment for the votes needed for the [PSOE] to form a government,” Feijóo told reporters in Madrid on Tuesday morning. “And who pays for that? The Spanish people, but also, in my opinion, Europe, because the deterioration of a democracy like Spain’s … will obviously have consequences for European institutions.”
Read the full story here.
Catalonia’s two main pro-independence parties – the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) and the more hardline Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia) – only agreed to back Pedro Sánchez after he accepted their demands for an amnesty.
A recent poll suggested that 70% of Spanish voters are against the amnesty law, which has prompted large demonstrations.
And recent days have also seen Vox politicians attend protests outside the PSOE’s headquarters in Madrid that have ended in skirmishes between police and fascist and neo-fascist groups.
Acting Spanish PM on verge of second term after controversial Catalan amnesty deal
Sam Jones
Pedro Sánchez is on the verge of winning congressional backing for a second term as Spain’s prime minister after securing the support of Catalan separatist parties by agreeing to a controversial amnesty for hundreds of people involved in the failed push for regional independence six years ago.
Wednesday’s investiture debate – which will be followed by a vote on Thursday that the socialist leader already has the numbers to win – is expected to bring an end to months of political deadlock following July’s inconclusive snap general election.
Although the conservative People’s party (PP) narrowly defeated Sánchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE), it has proved unable to form a government, even with the backing of the far-right Vox party and other, smaller groupings.
The PSOE and its partners in the leftwing Sumar coalition have managed to secure the necessary votes by enlisting the support of Catalan and Basque nationalists and other regional parties.
Negotiations, however, have not been cheap or easy. Catalonia’s two main pro-independence parties – the pragmatic Catalan Republican Left (ERC) and the more hardline Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia) – only agreed to back Sánchez after he accepted their demands for an amnesty.
Read the full story here.
Welcome to the blog
Good morning and welcome back to the Europe blog.
Today we will be looking at the latest developments in Spain, where Pedro Sánchez is close to securing backing for a second term as prime minister, after months of uncertainty, negotiations and tensions.
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