The breakdown of the talks for the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) and the Constitutional Court that the PP announced this afternoon due to the impetus that the Government has given in recent days to the reform of the crime of sedition has caused a very harsh reaction of the PSOE, in which it accuses Alberto Núñez Feijóo of “lack of political autonomy”. In a statement, the Socialists assure that the Galician leader, “has not resisted the pressures of the most reactionary right that, at all times, has been boycotting this negotiation so that it does not come to fruition”, in reference to the pressures of some orbits, among them the conservative bloc of the CGPJ, not to agree.
The version of the PSOE, in line with what was stated this morning by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, from Pretoria is that “the agreement that was already negotiated and ready to be signed by the PSOE and the PP”. And what has happened is that Feijóo “has used a new excuse to block the renewal of the CGPJ, thus breaking the negotiation and failing to comply with the Constitution once again”.
The excuse, according to the note issued by Ferraz, is the reduction of the penalties for the crime of sedition. This morning, with the agreement reached by the Minister of the Presidency, Felix Bolanosand the deputy secretary of Institutional of the PP, Esteban Gonzalez Ponspractically closed, some statements from the Minister of Finance, Maria Jesus Montero, in the middle of the Budget debate, hinting that the Executive would address this legal change, generated enormous discomfort in the PP that, with the passing of the hours, increased. It was useless for Montero to qualify them later, explaining that he had not said anything different from what was expressed days before by the chief executive, in reference to his words on Friday in Brussels about fulfilling that “personal” commitment if there is a “sufficient majority” for this modification of the Penal Code.
Pedro Sánchez himself, in an appearance together with the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, tried to get the PP to separate the “legislative agenda”, alluding to a modification of the Penal Code of the crimes tried in the ‘procés’, from the ” constitutional obligations” of the PP. “We are facing an unprecedented constitutional crisis,” he defended, with the CGPJ blocked for four years, which caused the resignation of its president, Carlos Lesmes.
Did Sánchez or Feijóo call?
This appeal did not convince Feijóo, who decided to speak directly with him in the afternoon. At this point, the versions offered by each party differ, the PP assures that the Galician leader did it, but the note from the Socialists suggests that it was Sánchez who had the initiative to contact him. According to the statement made public by the Popular Party, the Government, through Bolaños, “had conveyed that it was not in its plans to undertake the modification” of the crime of sedition. “But this afternoon President Sánchez has confirmed to Feijóo that his legislative agenda includes that reform of the Penal Code and consequently he is not going to give up on modifying it.”
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From the PSOE they deny what the PP exposes, in reference to the fact that they could have transmitted that commitment. “The Government’s legislative agenda has not been modified at any time during the legislature or during the negotiations in recent weeks. And, of course, it cannot be exchanged with the mandatory compliance with the Spanish Constitution.”
The scope of this crisis, almost to the point of fruition of the agreement to update the CGPJ and the TC, is so brutal that it not only completely dismantles the Judiciary in Spain, but also prevents any possibility of understanding between the two main forces policies.