José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, former president of the socialist Government, defended this Monday the amnesty as a figure of “democratic systems”, despite the “exceptional situations”, such as the one experienced in Catalonia with the processes of October 2017. The former The president insisted in an interview with Onda Cero that this step should be debated for something “deeper” than getting the votes that the socialist candidate Pedro Sánchez lacked to achieve his investiture. “I am in favor of amnesty (…) Amnesty is not against the constitution, and that, if there is amnesty, the Constitutional Court will say so,” he said. The former socialist president also justified the changes of opinion if he was in the government “for the general interest.”
The former socialist president, who committed himself to the election campaign for the general election on July 23, considered that the last appointment of the polls “was not spoiled” because the purpose was to see who can be a government. Against the demonstrations of former president Felipe González or former vice president Alfonso Guerra, who attacked amnesty and self-determination, the two main demands of the Junts and ERC in support of the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, Zapatero argued the reasons for of what he saw with. welcome to the amnesty. The same did not happen in other dimensions. “Self-determination is not compatible with our program, the amnesty,” he said.
“I am in favor of amnesty, some statements that surprised me, amnesty is an institution that all democracies comparable to ours have, in fact there have been many amnesties since the Second World War. No Western, European, democratic country that rejects amnesty. In some (democracies, amnesty) is found in the Constitution, and in others it is not. And, therefore, look at the reflection, beyond the process: Why will Spain stop having that institution if something happens , in front of a situation? situation?” he explained.
Zapatero asked himself if there was not a more unique situation in the democratic trajectory of Spain than the one experienced in October 2017, after the coup of 23-J. “No, this is the most unusual, the most serious and the one that most affects our stability, our partnership,” was the answer. The former socialist president also emphasized that, after applying article 155, when the pro-independence forces had an absolute majority in Parliament, they would once again have the same support.
The former president considered that when Sánchez spoke against the amnesty last summer he was referring to the proposal of the independentists and justified the changes of opinion that the acting socialist president was accused of during the legislature. “When you’re in Government, if you have to change your mind, you change it, in the public interest.”
