MADRID (AP) — Catalan separatist lawmakers on Tuesday opposed a deeply divisive amnesty law aimed at helping hundreds of supporters involved in Catalonia’s failed 2017 independence movement. The vote dealt a blow to the Spanish government.
The most radical separatists want to ensure the return of fugitive Belgian leader Carles Puigdemont and say the proposed legislation does not go far enough to protect him.
The bill must be submitted to a parliamentary committee again within two weeks, but it remains to be seen what the government and separatists can do to save it.
The refusal highlighted the government’s weakness even among its so-called allies. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez agreed to the law in exchange for parliamentary support from Catalonia’s two small separatist parties, allowing him to form a new minority left-wing government late last year.
However, the bill, which angered millions in Spain, was defeated when one of Catalonia’s two political parties, Junts, voted against it. The party had called for a clause to be included that would cover Puigdemont against any legal challenges that might arise if he returned to Spain.
“We will continue negotiations with another 15 days to spare…There is no reason to approve an amnesty law with holes,” said Miriam Nogueras, a member of the Jants. He said he was prepared for the Socialist Party’s warning that the proposed amendments “could put amnesty laws in trouble in Europe.”
Socialist Justice Minister Félix Bolaños told reporters it was completely incomprehensible that the Junts would vote against a law they agreed to by voting against a right-wing party that wanted to imprison them.
Mr. Puigdemont’s party had advised Mr. Sánchez from the beginning that it would be difficult to please the government if he supported it, but it predicted that it would risk undermining the very amnesty that was meant to help its supporters. There were very few analysts.
This defeat shows that the government is at the mercy of separatists throughout parliament. Sanchez’s coalition of minority parties has won 147 seats, but will need support from several smaller parties to win a majority of 176 seats out of a 350-seat majority. Jantz has 7 seats.
Puigdemont and the Catalan independence issue are anathema to many Spaniards. Puigdemont is wanted by Spain’s highest court on charges of insubordination and embezzlement, and two lower courts are investigating him and other secessionists for possible terrorism and treason.
The amnesty bill has been heavily criticized by conservatives, who make up about half of the country’s population, and far-right opposition parties. Many members of the judiciary and police are against it, as are senior members of Mr. Sánchez’s party.
Even if the bill were approved, it would have to be submitted to the Senate, where the fiercely conservative main opposition People’s Party holds an absolute majority. The party pledged to do everything in its power to block the bill in the Senate and challenge it in court.
Mr Sánchez admitted that he would not have agreed to the amnesty if he had not needed the support of the Catalan separatist parliament. He also says that without their support it would not have been possible to form a government, and that the right could have won the most seats and taken power in the 2023 elections.
He now says that the amnesty is good for Spain because it will further calm Catalonia, saying that the Catalonia policy since taking office in 2018 has significantly eased the tensions that existed between Madrid and Barcelona during the Popular Party government. I’m proud of it.
The previous government of Sánchez helped heal wounds by pardoning several imprisoned leaders of the Catalan independence movement.
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Associated Press writer Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this report.
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This version corrects the spelling of the Jantz member’s last name to Nogueras.