Not even 24 hours had passed since the Justice Commission of the Spanish Parliament approved this Thursday the text of
the amnesty law for the Catalan independence movement
, when the separatism was already warning that the next step will be self-determination so that
Catalonia becomes a republic.
This is what former Catalan president
Carles Puigdemont
expressed as soon as he learned that the modifications to the amnesty bill that his party, Junts per Catalunya, demanded had the approval of the Justice Commission.
“We all
have the right to continue the independence process,
to engage in politics and to exercise our rights without being violated by the structures of the State,” Puigdemont expressed online.
With the approval of the Amnesty Law to the Justice Commission of the Spanish Congress, it has been a very important step to end the repression against the independence process.
A legitimate, democratic, non-violent process, which the Spanish State combats in an unacceptable way…
— krls.eth / Carles Puigdemont (@KRLS) March 7, 2024
The former Catalan president
has lived outside of Spain since October 2017,
when he unilaterally declared the independence of Catalonia and, in the face of the intervention of the national government,
went into self-imposed exile in Belgium
to avoid imprisonment.
“This was one of the conditions to be able to have a relationship with the parties of the Spanish government without the interference of patriotic justice, and to be able to work and advance within the agreed framework for the investiture,” Puigdemont said about the amnesty that Congress
will debate on Thursday
March 14.
It is almost certain that that day, the Chamber of Deputies will approve this law that
erases possible crimes committed by the independentistas
with the majority vote of the parties that supported the re-election of Pedro Sánchez.
Amnesty as a condition
Because an amnesty law so that Puigdemont
can return to Spain
and so that crimes are not carried out against the hundreds of people who collaborated in the run-up to the illegal self-determination referendum and in the subsequent declaration of independence in 2017 was one of the conditions that the party of the former Catalan president agreed with the PSOE
to return Sánchez to the seat of La Moncloa.
A poster parodies the transfers that Pedro Sánchez made to the former Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont.
Photo: Cézaro De Luca
In November of last year, the current president of the Spanish government managed to be inaugurated for the third time with the support of seven political groups that include the Catalan and Basque independence parties, from the left and the right.
He agreed with everyone and must make concessions.
The amnesty law is one of them.
The first bill that the PSOE presented at the beginning of the year was rejected in Congress by Junts: those from Puigdemont considered that the bill did not adequately protect against possible accusations of terrorism or betrayal of Spain, as some judicial investigations that had pointed out. the former Catalan president in the crosshairs.
The amnesty law then returned to the Justice Commission and there was time until Thursday, March 7, to agree on a new text.
Junts per Catalunya deputies in Congress.
Photo: JAVIER SORIANO / AFP
Junts pulled the rope until the last minute of the deadline to
present amendments.
Finally, it agreed with the PSOE and with Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya - the majority pro-independence party and the one that governs the autonomous community today from the Generalitat - that the proposed law contemplates that
the possible crimes of terrorism, treason and embezzlement be considered in accordance with the European legislation
and not according to what the Spanish Penal Code indicates.
When it is finalized - its final approval could take place between May and June - the amnesty will be
the first step in the roadmap of the achievements that the independence movement
aspires to.
“We have to negotiate piece by piece, take nothing for granted and address all issues, from the budget to national recognition and the exercise of the right to self-determination,” said Puigdemont, who will be his party's candidate for the elections to the European Parliament. of June.
His return to Spain
is scheduled for July.
Initiative to declare independence
Fifteen days ago, the Catalan regional Parliament
admitted to processing a popular legislative initiative
that requests a bill declaring
the independence of Catalonia.
It is the
fifth request
of this type that the Parliament has received and was presented by the independence party Solidaritat, which currently does not have parliamentary representation although it did have representation between 2009 and 2012.
The initiative
would have no chance of succeeding
.
“The preamble of the law does not adhere to the strict scope of the powers of the Generalitat nor does it seek foundation in the Statute and the Constitution,” said the judges of the Catalan Parliament who were consulted.
Clarín
wanted to know the opinion of the regional president, Pere Aragonès: “From the Government of the Generalitat we consider that we must approach the resolution of the political conflict
between Catalonia and the Spanish State
with rigor and not feed dead ends or play with the expectations of the people,” they said from their government.
"We respect any initiative that is processed in the Parliament and we are always open to listening to the proposals made regarding the independence of Catalonia - they clarified to
Clarín
-.
What the independence movement needs are useful proposals to resolve the conflict and so that the citizens of Catalonia
can vote in a referendum
.”
“And this is what we work for from the Government of the Generalitat,” they insisted.
So that the citizens of Catalonia can decide democratically in a referendum on independence.
And we believe that the most useful way to achieve this is negotiation.”