A total of 66 former parliamentarians reject the “scandalously hasty” reform: “It is an unacceptable swallow”
Former socialist Pedro Bofill censures the expulsion of Nicolás Redondo: “Freedom of expression had never been limited in the PSOE”
More than fifty former deputies of PSOE, PP, UCD, UPyD and Ciudadanosamong them 16 former ministers, refer to Francina Armengol a writing where they show their rejection of the reform that regulates the use of co-official languages in Congress. “The true intention of its promoters is deny the status of Spanish as a common language of the Spanish,” reads the text delivered this Friday in the Lower House.
“Those of us who signed this document We would never put on a earpiece to be able to talk to a compatriotbeing able to do so in the common language of both, which is the language of all Spaniards,” reads the letter, signed by prominent leaders of socialism such as the former president of the Senate Juan José Labordathe former Andalusian president José Rodríguez de la Borbolla, Tomas Gomez, Francisco Vazquezor the former socialist ministers José Luis Corcuera either Virgilio ZapateroIn addition, the recently expelled Nicolás Redondoeither Joaquin Leguina.
“We want to express our firmer rejection of a reform of the Regulations that contradicts the Constitution“”, reads the letter, which defends that the use of co-official languages in parliament “does not have constitutional support” in a body “that represents national sovereignty.” They consider that this reform “would change the nature” of the Congress of Deputies and “would produce a serious constitutional mutation, aimed at its transformation towards a plurinational reality“.
PSOE commitment
The reform to allow the use of all languages - the official ones with simultaneous translation and the unofficial ones with self-translation – was the commitment that the PSOE acquired with Junts to reach the agreement of the Congress Board which guaranteed a progressive majority and put Armengol in charge, who in his first intervention as president, he already gave his word that he would allow all languages from that very day. And the promise will be fulfilled: the norm will be debated next Tuesday and Thursday, September 19 and 21expressly and in a single reading, thus saving the presentation in the Regulation Committee, not yet constituted, and now During the debate on the reform, it will be allowed the use of co-official languages and translators will be hired for this.
In addition to criticizing the reform itself, former parliamentarians have also questioned the forms and times used. “This change wants to take place in a scandalously hasty manner and with the breaking of a golden rule of demoliberal parliamentarism”, in reference to the fact that “they must have broad agreement from the parliamentary groups, as has always happened.” “The claim that the Chamber imposes a reform of such magnitude it’s a swallow it unacceptable, a real breaking of one’s rules of any democratic system”.
“Abusive reform”
Those in charge of transferring the text to the secretariat of the Presidency of Congress have been the former deputies Soledad Becerril and Eugenio Nasarre (PP) and Pedro Bofill (PSOE), who have explained that the collection of signatures has occurred in just three days, after a group of former deputies and senators were “very alarmed by the abusive reform of the Regulation“, defended Nasarre.
“This had never been used swallow it. The Regulations Commission has not been convened, no presentation has been made, no agreement has been sought,” the former popular continued. “We are concerned that this initiative has been made to satisfy certain claims of nationalist groups (…). “This exceeds any reasonable point of the democratic and liberal system.”
The socialist Bofill has considered that the co-official languages ”enrich” Spain, but that there is “a superior wealth, the wealth of the Spanish language, which is a plus that 400 million people speak and through which we have always understood each other.” .
Against the expulsion of Redondo
When asked, the leader also referred to the expulsion of Nicolás Redondo from the PSOE, Bofill, and expressed himself as “surprised and saddened that a very representative and appreciated member of the PSOE could be expelled for the fact that he does not agree that a fugitive from Spanish justice be amnestied”.
“I have been in the PSOE for 44 years, I have disagreed with all the leaderships and I have never felt limited in my freedom of expression,” he continued. “I am a progressive who has fought for the freedom of this country and I feel sad that freedom of expression is limited, something unknown in democratic times.”
The signatories
Pedro Agramunt Font de Mora
Ramon Alvarez de Miranda
Juan Carlos Aparicio
Pilar Aresti
Miguel Arias Cañete
Rafael Arias-Salgado
Soledad Becerril
Luis Berenguer
Pedro Bofill
José Ramón Calpe
Ignacio Camuñas
Jose Carracao
José Ramón Caso
Rafael Catala
Alejandro Cercas
José Luis Corcuera
Miguel Angel Cortes
María Dolores de Cospedal
Jesus Square
Rosa Diez
Gabriel Elorriaga
Elena Flores
Isabel García Tejerina
Arturo García Tizón
Alfonso Garrido
Tomas Gomez
Luis de Grandes
Juan José Laborda
Jaime Lamo de Espinosa
Maria Teresa of Lara
Joaquin Leguina
Fernando Lopez Amor
Theophilus of Luis
Pilar Marcos
Miguel Martínez Cuadrado
Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
José Antonio Maturana
Fernando Maura
Rodolfo Martin Villa
José María Mohedano
Salvador Moreda
Elena Moreno
Francisco Moreno
Eugenio Nasarre
Manuel Núñez Pérez
Antonio Ojeda
Javier Paniagua
Javier Peon
Jesus Posada
Emilio del Rio
Nicolas Redondo
Jaime Rodríguez Arana
José Rodríguez de la Borbolla
Soraya Rodríguez Ramos
Beatriz Rodríguez Salmones
Javier Rojo
Javier Ruperez
Javier Sáenz de Cosculluela
Adolfo Suarez Illana
Isabel Tocino
Federico Trillo
Luis del Val
Juan Carlos Vera
Francisco Vazquez
Ciriaco de Vicente
José Ignacio Wert
Virgilio Zapatero