Pedro Sánchez defends amnesty for Catalan independence activists “in the name of Spain and in defense of harmony”

The Spanish socialist leader, Pedro SanchesThis Wednesday, he defended amnesty for Catalan independence activists involved in the separatist process in that Spanish region in 2017, a measure that he said was “in the name of Spain, in the interests of Spain and in defense of concord among Spaniards”.

Sánchez addressed the Congress in the parliamentary debate for his investiture as Spanish Executive Chairman to speak on one of the most controversial themes of his pacts with other formations to obtain support, and which has generated an important controversy with massive demonstrations against them last days.

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The amnesty law, already registered by the socialists in the Lower Chamber, directly affects Catalan independence activists, including the former regional president of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont, a fugitive from Spanish justice in Brussels.

This rule, described as unconstitutional by the opposition, will annul the “criminal, administrative and accounting responsibility” of all people linked to the preparation, execution and consequences of the sovereignty process in Catalonia for a decade, between January 1, 2012 and November. 13, 2023.

In his speech today, Sánchez made it clear that the amnesty will be approved “under lights and stenographers, with total transparency”: “It will not be an attack on the Constitution of 78 (the first of democracy in Spain), but quite the opposite, another example of its strength and validity.”

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The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, speaks at the Congress of Deputies of Spain. (EFE/Javier Lizón).

Faced with the Catalan independence conflict, the acting head of the Spanish Executive said that there are two approaches: the path “of imposition and tension”, which he attributed to the conservative Popular Party (PP), or “the path of dialogue, forgiveness and understanding ”, which is what is being accomplished now.

This amnesty, noted Sánchez, is motivated “by the well-founded hope” that it will help “overcome a crisis that no one can be proud of” and that it will contribute “to improving coexistence”.

The socialist candidate for the presidency of the Spanish Government cited the Catalan poet Salvador Espriu in his speech, when prescribing “diàleg” (dialogue, in Catalan), before announcing amnesty “in the name of Spain”, and to defend “concord” ., a word that, he recalled, is expressed in the same way in all the co-official languages ​​of the Spanish State.

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However, Sánchez acknowledged that this is a measure “that may not be shared by many citizens” and that he is “perfectly aware of this”.

“I want to tell all of them that I respect their opinions and emotions very much. But circumstances are what they are and we have to make a virtue of necessity, for reasons of general interest,” he said.

Sánchez went even further and indicated that the amnesty “will be good for the country’s economy”, all after stating that the economic powers that “sponsor” the right and the extreme right are not “concerned” with this measure.

Source: Elcomercio