More than three months after the election, the investiture of Pedro Sánchez is still not guaranteed and will pass some decisive time. The PSOE and Junts have not been able, so far, to close an agreement on the amnesty law, the heart of the negotiations launched between the socialists and the Catalan independentists to re-elect Sánchez as president.
Feijóo accused Sánchez of bringing Spain to the “constitutional precipice” and turning the Supreme Court into a “repressor” because of the amnesty.
After the progress of the talks in recent weeks that all the parties agreed to describe as almost definitive, and which is shown in the photo of the number 3 of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán, with the former president Carles Puigdemont in his office in the European Parliament in Brussels last Monday, the negotiations between the socialists and Junts encountered some obstacles, so far, insurmountable.
Specifically, the current negotiation battle focuses on articles that describe how far the amnesty covers and what cases it excludes. The discussion between PSOE and Junts addresses the specific cases of convicted or prosecuted persons who, according to the criteria of the Socialists, should not benefit from the law and who, for Puigdemont’s party, represent in red lines.
The intention of the negotiating groups is to close an agreement that will become official this Thursday to immediately register the amnesty bill and thus pave the way for the investiture plenary session of Pedro Sánchez at the end of next week. But the plans went awry on Wednesday.
Throughout the day, the talks between the two negotiating delegations intensified. The exchange of drafts was non-stop even in the early hours of the morning and the meetings continued throughout Thursday morning. It is still not ruled out that the talks could be redirected because none of the negotiators openly talked about the separation, despite the fact that so far no agreed solution has been found to the obstacles that remain waiting to be resolved and that. should be done, primarily, in cases that are not included in the amnesty law.
Although the PSOE or Junts do not hide that the negotiation situation is going through very dangerous moments, neither of the two consider that there is no agreement. During the afternoon, the appearances of the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, together with the first secretary of the PSC, Salvador Illa, are expected at the Barcelona headquarters of the Catalan socialists. Also scheduled to appear is the president of the ERC, Oriol Junqueras. And Carles Puigdemont is expected to do the same from Brussels after the Junts leadership is assembled.
If the agreement is reached, the bill can be registered in Congress this afternoon and tomorrow, Friday, despite being qualified by the Board, thus clearing the way for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez. However, none of the people familiar with the negotiations can predict at the moment whether the obstacles that are currently blocking the agreement can be resolved in a few hours, days, or even if they cannot be resolved at all. The latter situation will lead to the automatic dissolution of the Cortes on November 27 and the return of the elections on January 14.
