Hopes are rising that Pedro Sanchez will be able to return to government in Spain with a socialist government and support from radical left and independence activists. Today, 52-year-old socialist Francina Armengol was elected speaker of the Spanish parliament, winning 178 votes, two more than the absolute majority. Various regional and pro-independence formations also voted for him, including the left-wing Sumar party, of which Podemos is a part, and the Junts Catalans, whose vote was questionable until the last minute.
The victory on the day the new parliament took office is especially significant after the early elections on 23 July did not result in a clear majority. Alberto Feijoo’s People’s Party took the lead, winning 137 seats last month, but lacks a majority even with the support of the far-right Vox party, which has 33 seats. Feijoo’s presidential candidate, Cuca Gamarra, came in second with the support of only two MPs from the regional parties. Vox voted separately for their own candidate as they could not find a deal with the PP. Armengol’s success came at the last moment, thanks to an agreement with the Catalan separatists. Junts for Cataloniaby Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan leader who lives in exile in Belgium to avoid arrest and finds himself destabilizing Spanish politics.
Puigdemont said the price of his party’s support for a Sanchez government is an amnesty for everyone involved in the unconstitutional 2017 Catalan independence referendum and Madrid’s consent to a new self-determination vote. Puigdemont, who was the subject of the arrest warrant for the referendum he organized while he was the President of Catalonia, raises his voice, but he also knows that he cannot push the rope too much. If the coalition fails, it could herald more difficult times for Puigdemont, with the right winning new elections, still facing possible extradition from Belgium and accusations of holding the 2017 referendum and failing the declaration of independence. Popular and far-right Vox, unlike the Socialists, vowed not to compromise with the separatists and criticized Sánchez for pardoning his already convicted Puigdemont allies.
“For Junts per Catalunya, the agreement to create the Congressional presidency did not concern positions in Congress or the chairmen of commissions” and “cannot in any way relate to the appointment of government,” wrote X, the social un-time known as Twitter Puigdemont himself. “We will not act on promises or political will without a guarantee of respect for those who do not trust us. I do not know whether this distance will be shortened. But if future agreements do come, it is because they have verifiably included their suitability,” he added. However, the Junts leader said that one of the demands of the Catalan component in Madrid would be accepted. he underlined: “Spain, which is currently chairing the European Council, has asked this institution to add Catalan, Basque and Galician to its list of official languages.” This is a fact, not a promise,” he concluded.
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Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
