Strong statement by Felipe González to demonstrate again against the amnesty law and the negotiation with the sovereigntists for the investiture. The former socialist president has charged against the “change in position” of the PSOE in this measure and with the rest of the issues that are being negotiated, such as the figure of an international mediator that Junts demands. “As a citizen I will never accept it”, he warns. He is also outraged that the investiture is being negotiated in Brussels or that other sovereigntist parties are demanding recognition of their territories as a nation. For all this, he demands that the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, stand up to former President Carles Puigdemont, “a fugitive from justice”, and say “this is as far as we have come.”
Through an intervention, distributed by his foundation and advanced by El Confidencial, the former president emphasizes that the amnesty does not fit in the Constitution “from the legal point of view”, but neither from the political point of view of his party because “it is has denied time and time again. For González, who remembers that he was in favor of pardons, “there are no political reasons” to approve an amnesty law. What’s more, it contradicts the argument used by the socialists about its function to deepen coexistence with Catalonia and predicts that it will produce the opposite effect.
“They intend to break cohesion and unity”González warns about sovereigntists in general, concluding that “it is not worth it” to form a government with their support. “Is seven votes really necessary?”, wonders about Pedro Sánchez’s argument of “making necessity a virtue.” After that, he concludes that what should be done is “go to win the elections, if they are repeated.” González’s statement is woven as a response to the reasons that the socialists have been using to justify their steps, as well as their strong ideas. Along these lines, he also doubts that the dichotomy is established between a progressive government and one of the right and the extreme right. “When I think about those who define themselves as a progressive government, I wonder what is progressive about people like Puigdemont,” he says ironically.
His criticisms are not limited to the sovereigntists and he questions the coalition with Add. “They have been considering us social traitors for a century”, protests to ask for agreements between the two major parties, PSOE and PP, despite the breaking of bridges. Firstly, he argues, because in the elections of last June 23, socialists and popular people accounted for two out of every three ballots. Secondly, because “there is no serious reform in Spain, including constitutional ones, that does not require your understanding.”
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González also condemns the “violence against the parties”, in reference to the protests that have been taking place in recent days at the PSOE headquarters. “It must be condemned without any doubt, whoever calls it is responsible for the consequences.” Likewise, he calls to defend the State security forces and bodies, which are being questioned by the extreme right, and asks to “recover calm” and that “citizens not allow themselves to be contaminated.”
The protests, which are spreading through different provincial capitals, are the cause of growing polarization, according to the former socialist president. “Some believe they are owners of Spain and others owners of democracy,” he summarizes while still blaming bloc politics. “It seems that they are the ones who dominate, breaking the space of centrality,” he says in reference to the influence of the “extremes” in each of the two major parties.