If Spain’s left-wing alliance around Sánchez wants to continue governing, Catalonia’s approval is needed. Separatist leader Puigdemont signals willingness to negotiate – and makes demands from exile.
A historic compromise is needed, nothing less. Otherwise Spain is threatened with new elections, notes separatist leader Carles Puigdemont. He knows it’s up to him and his Catalan party Junts.
The MEP spoke from Brussels in the middle of the week. He demands that no more legal action be taken against independence fighters and advocates. Puigdemont also said: “The independence referendum of October 1st was therefore not a crime, nor was the declaration of independence, nor were the mass protests against the central government at the time.”
Puigdemont calls for amnesty law
Puigdemont, co-responsible for the illegal referendum in 2017, wants the secession attempts supported by some Catalans to be recognized as politically legitimate. This also includes the theoretical possibility of another referendum. The most important point for the former governor of Catalonia: an amnesty law.
The law must “take into account the broad spectrum of repression that began in November 2014”. The Spanish government has a responsibility to right the wrongs, to commemorate the victims and not to put the victims on the same footing as the perpetrators, Puigdemont said. The same applies to the judiciary.
The separatist leader held his press conference in Catalan. A legal amnesty could be a way out for himself. Because as soon as the exiled politician sets foot on Spanish soil again, he will have to answer in court. This increases the political explosiveness of the ongoing negotiations.
Sánchez and Puigdemont need each other
However, both – acting prime minister Pedro Sánchez and pro-independence rebel Puigdemont – know they need each other. The Socialists absolutely need the votes from Catalonia to be able to continue governing. Puigdemont, through skillful and measured negotiation, could facilitate his political return and rehabilitation. Government spokeswoman Isabel Rodriguez sees scope for an agreement. She said:
Our tool is dialogue. We have a framework, namely the constitution, and we have a goal, namely living together.
This approach has always delivered results, Rodriguez emphasized.
Negotiations are running in the background
Negotiations have started – discreetly in the background. The reaction in the socialist camp was correspondingly upset when Labor Minister Yolanda Diaz from left-wing alliance partner Sumar surprisingly flew to Brussels at the beginning of the week to meet Puigedemont there in a public manner. For the conservatives, who initially have the task of forming a government, it is all a dangerous game with enemies of the constitution.
The candidate Alberto Nuñez Feijóo from the People’s Party speaks of a political anomaly. It cannot be that a person wanted by the Spanish judiciary determines the future of the country. Consequently, Feijóo refuses to talk to junts. He is not expected to get a governing majority together by the end of September.
constitutionalist: amnesty possible
But lawyers are also discussing whether the Catalan demands are legitimate. Javier Pérez Royo is a constitutional lawyer at the University of Seville. He thinks an amnesty is possible. Speaking on national radio program RNE, he said there is not a single article in the constitution that prohibits such a law:
The constitution allows general pardons as long as parliament decides on them and not the government on its own.
On another point, Sánchez’s left camp is already making big strides towards the Catalans and other regional parties. Regional languages such as Catalan are to be permitted in Parliament by the end of September. And as soon as possible in the EU – but Brussels still has to get involved.