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Tag: Catalan independence

  • Judges get dragged into Spain’s toxic politics

    Judges get dragged into Spain’s toxic politics

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    MADRID — Spain’s latest political turmoil is extending a years-long battle between the two main parties over appointments of top judges. 

    In recent months, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez secured a new term by offering an amnesty deal to Catalan separatists in exchange for political support. This was met by outrage from the right-wing opposition, many in the judiciary and prominent lawyers, who have warned such a move could be seen as unconstitutional. Now, this antagonism is feeding into a paralysis in the judiciary’s governing body.

    For years, Sánchez’s governing Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and the Popular Party (PP) clashed over judicial appointments and reform. The two have vied to control the judicial authority and as a result, the entire judiciary, with appointed judges labeled “conservative” or “progressive,” and their political allegiance public knowledge.

    The PP, in particular, has delayed efforts to reach a deal on new appointments, demonstrating the deteriorating relationship in the months since Sanchez’s offer of Catalan amnesty. The judiciary has become their political battleground.

    Critics say conservative leaders are fearful of losing control of the Supreme Court, where conservative-backed judges dominate.

    PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who could not gather enough support to govern despite winning July’s election, has continued to thwart attempts by Sánchez to reach a deal and instead has called for a reform of laws governing appointments.  

    This reflects the Popular Party’s broader political agenda, said Lluís Orriols, a political scientist at Madrid’s Carlos III University.

    “The [Popular Party] hasn’t been accusing the government of not managing the economy or of being corrupt or inefficient, its main angle of attack is to accuse the government of eroding the rule of law,” he said. 

    Terms of judges sitting on Spain’s General Council of the Judiciary, expired five years ago and they remain on the council until the government can appoint new judges. The council, which appoints top judges, has been unable to appoint 23 out of 79 Supreme Court positions that have opened up due to retirements and deaths during the half-decade hiatus.

    The PSOE and PP have not managed to secure the three-fifths support needed from parliament to make new appointments. Currently, Spain’s highest judicial authority, dominated by judges appointed by the PP in 2013 when it was in power, operates on an interim basis, drawing concern from the EU.

    European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders recently described new appointments on Spain’s General Council of the Judiciary as “a matter of priority.”

    Such is the entrenched nature of the stand-off that both sides have now agreed to let the European Commission mediate.

    The EU’s 2023 justice scorecard placed Spain 23rd in the bloc for public perception of independence of courts and judges, with political pressure the most commonly cited cause of interference. 

    Pedro Sanchez appauds prior a Parliamentary debate on the eve of a vote to elect Spain’s next premier, at the Congress of Deputies in Madrid on November 15, 2023 | Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images

    “As well as damaging the credibility of public institutions, this [dispute] demonstrates that the Spanish justice system is very susceptible to party political interference,” said Joaquim Bosch, a judge and spokesman in the Valencia region for the Judges for Democracy (JxD) association, which has frequently criticized the judiciary.

    The politicization of the judiciary has been a recurring theme for decades. In 1985, the Socialist government of Felipe González, keen to limit the influence of the many Franco-era judges still serving, introduced a reform that allowed parliament to appoint members of the judiciary council. 

    While the dispute over the judiciary’s governing body has continued, tensions have been simmering between Sánchez’s parliamentary allies and the courts. Much of the ill-feeling from judges can be attributed to a contentious 2022 sexual consent law, overseen by leftist party Podemos, which inadvertently led to the reduction of sentences of hundreds of sex offenders, pitting it against judges it accused of misinterpreting the reform. 

    “We have been called sexist, patriarchal, ‘fascists in a toga’ – everything under the sun,” said María Jesús del Barco Martínez, president of the Professional Association of Magistrates (APM), Spain’s largest organization of judges.

    Sanchez’s recent decision to provide amnesty to those involved in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, which he previously said was not possible, has also led him directly into conflict and reproach from those atop the country’s justice system.

    The government insists the bill is legally watertight. However, before the legislation was presented to parliament, the APM issued a strongly worded statement against it, warning that the amnesty “attacks the very bases of the state and the rule of law.”

    Much of the criticism from the judicial bench comes from the part of the amnesty deal that refers to “lawfare,” the use of legal systems and institutions to hurt opponents, a buzzword for Catalan nationalists, who believe state institutions have acted against them in recent years. Many cite lengthy jail terms given to independence leaders in the wake of the failed illegal Catalan independence drive. 

    The government’s willingness to discuss lawfare – Sánchez has used the word himself recently, albeit when accusing the Popular Party of blocking judicial council appointments – enraged judges.

    Del Barco Martínez said: “There is nothing that interferes more in the work of a judge than politicians telling them what they have to do or checking to see whether what they have done fits in with what politicians want. In a Bolivarian regime you can do that, maybe, but not in a democracy.”

    The clash between Sánchez’s parliamentary allies and the judiciary shows little sign of ending, with both sides feeling aggrieved.

     “We are seeing a clear conflict of powers in this country: there is a battle being waged between the judiciary and the executive,” said Orriols, of Carlos III University. “The judiciary is using its resources to defend itself from what it feels is an attack by parliament and Catalan institutions while the executive feels that the judiciary is overreaching.”

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    Guy Hedgecoe

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  • Spain’s Sánchez poised to remain in power — but at what cost?

    Spain’s Sánchez poised to remain in power — but at what cost?

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    MADRID — Pedro Sánchez has achieved what many thought impossible.

    When he called a snap election after suffering heavy losses in May’s regional and local votes, nearly everyone wrote the Spanish prime minister off as a political cadaver.

    But on Wednesday, Sánchez will propose that Spain’s parliament let him form a new government, a bid that a majority of lawmakers is expected to support.

    While the Socialist leader’s electoral gamble seems about to pay off, it comes at a heavy price.

    To have his government confirmed by the fractured parliament, Sánchez needed to secure the support of the Catalan separatist Junts group. In exchange for the group’s backing, his Socialist Party this week filed a controversial bill to grant amnesty to those involved in the Catalan separatist movement over the past decade.

    “Amnesties in Spain have historically been applied after episodes of great violence or when there is a regime change, as happened when the last one was passed in 1977,” said political scientist Pablo Simón. “But this one is impossible to disassociate from the negotiation to form a government.”

    Over the past week, thousands of Spaniards have taken to the streets to protest. While the outcry is expected to dissipate — as happened in 2021, when the pardoning of imprisoned Catalan leaders sparked widespread anger — profound social tensions are likely to remain.

    The center-right Popular Party has vowed to challenge the amnesty in the courts. If the law were to be overturned, it would constitute a stunning rebuke of Sánchez.

    But even if the amnesty passes judicial scrutiny, that result may prove just as problematic for the Socialist leader.

    The bill would allow figures like former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, who has lived in Belgium since the failed 2017 Catalan independence referendum, to return to Spain — and to the political fold.

    It remains to be seen if the de facto leader of Junts can still inspire the masses that backed him six years ago, and whether he’ll be able to use them to exert pressure on Sánchez.

    Do-nothing parliament?

    Getting parties in a fractured parliament to back the formation of a government is one thing. Getting them to vote for its legislation is another.

    To have his government confirmed by the fractured parliament, Sánchez needed to secure the support of the Catalan separatist Junts group | Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images

    The various left-wing and separatist parties slated to back Sánchez on Thursday have radically different political ideologies, and that could be a major problem this term.

    “It’s going to be very difficult to pass any laws,” Simón said.

    But Sánchez, the quintessential comeback kid, has never been one to fear the odds. Once his government passes a budget, moving his legislative agenda forward will require him to do what he does best: negotiate.

    “During the last term, when the prime minister oversaw Spain’s first-ever coalition government, we got major, socially progressive legislation passed despite the pandemic and the war in Ukraine,” former Health Minister and Socialist Party of Catalonia Secretary Salvador Illa told POLITICO.

    “I think this next term will be much more productive and stable than most people predict.”

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    Aitor Hernández-Morales

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  • Feijóo’s numbers don’t add up

    Feijóo’s numbers don’t add up

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    MADRID — Alberto Núñez Feijóo may not want to admit it but his hope of being Spain’s next prime minister may have to be lowered.

    On Monday night, the leader of the center-right Popular Party, which won the most votes in last Sunday’s national election in Spain but fell short of securing a governing majority, was left without options to form a government after two key regional parties rejected his overtures.

    To become Spain’s prime minister, a candidate whose party has not secured a governing majority needs to either get the backing of 176 of the total 350 MPs in an initial vote in parliament or wait for a second round of voting to secure a simple majority. MPs can also abstain, which means it can be difficult to determine the exact number of seats needed for a successful bid to form a government.

    In a speech after a meeting of the Popular Party’s executive committee, Feijóo reaffirmed his determination to gather the support needed to advance with his candidacy, adding that as the leader of the party that garnered the most votes, it was his “duty.”

    But his numbers don’t add up. His Popular Party controls 136 seats in parliament — all of its scenarios for victory require the support of the far-right Vox party’s 33 MPs. But because the combined right-wing forces only account for 169 seats, the conservative leader would also need the support of some regional parties.

    While the conservative leader quickly secured the backing of the Navarrese People’s Union — a virtual offshoot of the Popular Party — the rest of his attempts to woo potential allies have gone nowhere, fast.

    Vox Secretary-General Ignacio Garriga on Monday stated his party, with whom the Popular Party aspired to form a government, is not interested in supporting a prime minister that is also backed by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), one of the groups whose votes Feijóo would need to become prime minster.

    “You can’t have a patriotic vote alongside that of a separatist party,” said Garriga, referring to the PNV. “It’s impossible.”

    Feijóo was similarly rebuffed by the PNV’s Andoni Ortuzar, to whom he sent a chummy text message proposing they sit down to talk.

    Ortuzar ignored Feijóo’s message for most of the day and only responded in the evening, when he called Feijóo to tell him his group was not interested in even meeting to discuss the possibility of a Popular Party-led government, the PNV posted on social media.

    Meanwhile, Fernando Clavijo, secretary-general of the insular Canarian Coalition, told the Spanish media that his party’s sole MP would not back any government that included Vox.

    Feijóo does “not have any possibility to become prime minister,” the group’s outgoing MP, Ana Oramas, said.

    A summer of magical thinking

    The combined rejections from Vox and the regional groups leave Feijóo without realistic options.

    At this point, the only way his bid could succeed is if Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s 122 Socialist MPs agree to not vote against his hypothetical candidacy — a fantasy scenario that has no chance of happening after a campaign in which the Popular Party’s primary message was that it was time to “repeal Sanchismo.”

    Pedro Sánchez — officially in caretaker mode since Sunday’s election — is laying low these days | Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP via Getty Images

    Feijóo seemed determined to not let reality get in his way on Tuesday, insisting the Socialists needed to deal with him instead of negotiating with the left-wing parties and Basque and Catalan separatists, whose votes could allow Sánchez to remain prime minister.

    “Spain holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, we’re negotiating finance rules in Brussels … We need stability, pro-European sentiment and centralism,” he said in Santiago de Compostela.

    “It would be a huge mistake for separatists to govern Spain,” he added. “It’s the traditional parties that have won the greatest amount of votes.”

    While Popular Party spokesperson Borja Sémper rejected the possibility of a grand coalition with the Socialists, in an interview with Spain’s public radio he floated the idea of a minority government led by Feijóo that could forge some sort of pact with the center left to address some of the nation’s “challenges.”

    Deputy Prime Minister María Jesús Montero on Tuesday also rejected any possibility of a deal between the Socialists and the Popular Party, and instead underlined Sánchez’s determination to form a coalition with the left-wing Sumar coalition and secure the support of a hodgepodge of Basque, Catalan and Galician nationalist groups.

    The hope is to secure 172 yeas for Sánchez’s candidacy — slightly more than the 170 nays that will come from the right — and convince Catalan separatist group Junts, which has said it will not back the Socialists, to abstain.

    “A progressive majority has backed the continuance of the Sánchez government’s progressive policies and rejected the Popular Party and Vox’s Trumpian politics,” Montero told Cadena Ser.

    The expat factor

    Although Spain’s election was held last Sunday, the definitive results won’t be known until this Saturday, when the votes of Spaniards living abroad are added to the total. Spanish consular offices around the world have registered over 2 million citizens, but the turnout among them is not yet known.

    While the foreign vote has never dramatically shifted the outcome of a Spanish election, it can alter the results of one or two seats — and that could make a difference in this particular parliament.

    Pablo Simón, a political scientist at Madrid’s Carlos III University, said that while changes could further complicate Sánchez’s plan to remain prime minister, they would almost certainly not improve Feijóo’s chances of taking power.

    The nightmare scenario, of course, would be if enough seats changed hands that the left and right-wing blocs were left controlling the exact same numbers. Simón said that while such a “catastrophic blockage” was highly unlikely, lack of information about participation rates or political leanings of expat voters made it difficult to guess what could happen.

    Discretion is everything

    Sánchez — officially in caretaker mode since Sunday’s election — is laying low these days. It’s a canny strategy that is focusing the public’s attention on Feijóo’s inability to gather support for his candidacy.

    SPAIN NATIONAL PARLIAMENT ELECTION POLL OF POLLS

    For more polling data from across Europe visit POLITICO Poll of Polls.

    On Tuesday, Sánchez’s spokesperson announced that the traditional summer meeting between the Spanish PM and King Felipe VI in the Marivent Palace in Mallorca had been canceled; the two will meet in Madrid after the holidays. Pundits speculate Sánchez did not want to appear to be getting any special access to the monarch, who will decide who gets to try form Spain’s next government.

    Meanwhile, Deputy PM Montero confirmed that behind-the-scenes talks between the Socialists and the groups whose support Sánchez needs were underway. “A successful negotiation depends on discretion,” Montero said.

    The left-wing Sumar party, Sánchez’s projected coalition partners, has been entrusted with the delicate task of making contact with the Catalan separatist Junts party, whose abstention in a parliamentary vote on Feijóo’s candidacy will be key to the prime minister’s gamble.

    Montero said Sánchez is keen to negotiate with them but no blanket amnesties will be granted — including to its founder Carles Puidgemont, who is sought by Spanish authorities for his role in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum. Likewise, holding an official independence referendum in Catalonia is also off the table.

    “The Socialist Party is a constitutionalist party, so everything we do has to be contemplated within the framework of the constitution,” she said.

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    Aitor Hernández-Morales

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