Support for Spanish Prime Minister in Exchange for Amnesty

Spanish Prime Minister receives support from Catalan separatists in exchange for amnesty

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez can almost certainly start his third term. His socialist PSOE has signed a controversial deal with the Catalan separatist party Junts per Catalunya on cooperation in a new coalition. The agreement sparked protests in Spanish cities last week.

Catalan party leader Carles Puigdemont has demanded amnesty for himself and other separatists in return for the support. They are being prosecuted in Spain for their role in the illegal referendum in 2017 on the independence of Catalonia. Some of them have already been convicted.

In an explanation of the deal, the secretary of the PSOE speaks of a “historic opportunity to put an end to a conflict that can only be resolved through politics”. He did say that a new Catalan independence referendum is “a red line” for the Social Democrats.

Negotiations about the new government were held in Brussels, Puigdemont’s place of residence. He fled there after the illegal referendum to avoid persecution in Spain.

Too few seats

In Spain, a new government had to be formed after last summer’s elections, which Sánchez lost. The right-wing conservative Partido Popular emerged as the winner, but that party was unable to forge a coalition. This put the ball in Sánchez’s hands.

His party concluded an agreement with the left-wing Sumar at the end of October, but that did not yet give Sánchez enough seats. He therefore had to turn to the Junts and another Catalan party, the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), with seven and six seats respectively.

The ERC already agreed last week, but it took longer to reach an agreement with the PSOE. This morning there was white smoke, which is expected to allow Sánchez to present his new government next week.

Spain Correspondent Miral de Bruijne:

“The agreement that is now in place is very controversial in Spain. A large number of Spaniards are therefore furious that it has finally been reached. The right-wing Partido Popular, which actually received the most votes during the elections, has spoken out from the start negotiations have already strongly opposed the amnesty for the Catalan separatists, saying it shows that Sánchez will do anything to stay in power.

PP politician Díaz Ayuso, the president of the Madrid region, said today that this is the beginning of a dictatorship, which has crept in through the back door. The right-wing opposition will do everything in its power to prevent the formation of this new coalition. But the question is whether they can change that.

Some demonstrations against the amnesty were already planned for the coming days. There is a good chance that these will become very large if the agreements are signed today. In recent weeks, the demonstrations of the extreme right-wing VOX in particular resulted in riots.”