A bill to pardon politicians and members of civil society organizations who have been convicted or are under legal proceedings for pro-independence initiatives in the autonomous region of Catalonia in Spain was rejected in the first vote in parliament.
Although the minority left-wing coalition government was able to win a vote of confidence in parliament last November, the separatist Catalan political parties’ amnesty condition was quickly brought to parliament, but no agreement was reached between the parties for its acceptance.
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SENT TO THE COMMITTEE
The bill, which was presented under the title “Amnesty for institutional, political and social normalization in Catalonia”, was rejected with 171 “yes” votes against 179 “no” votes in the vote and sent back to the Justice Commission for necessary amendments.
The biggest problem for the rejection of the bill was the “Unity for Catalonia” (Junts) party’s demand for full guarantees against prosecution of Carles Puigdemont, the former head of Catalonia’s autonomous government and leader of the Junts, who fled the Spanish judiciary and lives in Brussels as a European Parliamentarian.
The coalition’s senior partner, the Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), rejected Junts’ demands.
Junts was also not convinced by the PSOE’s inclusion of all crimes in the amnesty, including those classified as terrorism or treason.
WHAT IS IN THE BILL?
The bill, which was submitted to the parliament by the PSOE and rejected, envisages pardoning some 400 separatist Catalan politicians, representatives of non-governmental organizations and members of radical groups that have been involved in public disorder and violent demonstrations on the streets since January 1, 2012 in connection with the pro-independence initiatives in Catalonia, the illegal referendum on November 9, 2014 and the referendum on October 1, 2017.
While the government portrays the amnesty initiative as “an important step for coexistence in Catalonia and for Spanish democracy”, right-wing opposition parties see it as “treason”, “a humiliation of Spanish democracy and the rule of law, and a violation of the principle of equality”.
Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the main opposition right-wing People’s Party (PP), which has a majority in the Senate, argued in parliament that the Junts had “taken hostage” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who needs their support to stay in power, but that Spaniards would not pay a ransom.
The parliamentary and senate processes to pass the bill into law are expected to take a long time.
