PP and PSOE are embroiled between accusations of acting against democracy in the Senate debate on sedition

The proposal, which has gone ahead definitively, arrived without the amendments suspended by the TC

MADRID, 22 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The debate in the Senate, prior to the vote on the bill that repeals the crime of sedition and modifies the crime of embezzlement, has passed between mutual accusations by PSOE and PP of acting for spurious interests unrelated to the general interest and against the Democracy.

During more than four hours in which all the groups have established positions on the different vetoes and amendments to the bill, which arrived without the amendments temporarily suspended by the Constitutional Court (TC), the PP through its different spokespersons - -mainly Javier Maroto-- has accused the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, of "swindling" society, of being a "trilero", and of modifying the Criminal Code "to legitimize the pro-independence process". In addition, they have stressed that the process of the proposal has been a "botch."

Faced with this tone, PSOE senator José María Oleaga has responded to the PP warning that blocking the institutions as is the case with the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) is in breach of the Constitution, and has lamented that the PP's attitude "breaks with the spirit of the Transition and put an end to understanding and dialogue".

The confrontation between the two parties, punctuated by interventions from other parliamentary groups, has continued with a PP calling on the Socialist senators who were not 'sanchistas' to leave the Chamber during the vote. And from the PSOE the message has been intensified by asserting that what the 'popular' want is to maintain the current CGPJ "to keep the courts tied up and help them in their legal cases" and to "prevent the legitimate right of parliamentarians to debate".

In line, Oleaga has pointed out that the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, is like a "knocked out boxer" who is incapable of understanding that democracy consists of "accepting what the polls say" and has accused him of provoking a "serious affectation of the system" with its amparo appeal and its blockade, while from the PP they urged the Executive once again to go to general elections now.

Maroto, in one of the two shifts that he has enjoyed, has criticized the Government's "mantra" that this bill is in line with pacifying the relationship with Catalonia, and has added that "they confuse pacifying with giving everything to the who asks for everything". "The independentistas are insatiable, nothing can be pacified by giving everything away," he recalled.

In this sense, and after recalling that Sánchez has betrayed everything he promised in the campaign to remain in the Government -- "first me and then Spain" -- he has predicted that the next thing will be to allow a referendum in Catalonia, for which, he has Said, you need to place magistrate Cándido Conde-Pumpido at the head of the TC.

The 'popular' senator Salomé Prada has been just as tough, accusing the Government of "giving in to those who want to break Spain" while the PP worries about "defending Democracy and the Rule of Law".

But from the PSOE they have reiterated their thesis that what they do from the Executive is to promote reunion, dialogue and coexistence with Catalonia, and Oleaga has stressed that he is proud of his party because it seeks solutions to problems of coexistence and that, " despite the fact that citizens have doubts, we must look at things with perspective".

The socialist senator María Nieves Hernández has added to this that the situation left by the PP after leaving Moncloa in Catalonia "is not the current one" because "they became a factory of independentistas". "They are agitators, they confront territories, and we have opted for the path of dialogue between compatriots," she asserted.

After this, the 'popular' senator Fernando de Rosa has focused on the reform of the crime of embezzlement to affirm that it will cause many corrupt people to take to the streets as of January 2023. In line, and after affirming that many accused of the 'procés' will also benefit, he told the PSOE that "laws cannot be drafted from the ERC headquarters."

For her part, ERC senator Mirella Cortés pointed out that PSOE and Podemos are now suffering what the independentistas experienced in 2017, and recalled that the Spanish right "does not want to give up power" and that "they are carrying out the coup in your resume."

In line, the senator of Junts Josep María Cervera has indicated that the "interference" of the TC in the functions of the Cortes "confirms that Spain is far from being a full Democracy." "To fight against the independence movement, they renounced politics to leave the answer in the hands of the anaftalinated robes, and that does not stop the independence movement but rather democracy," he stressed.

On the other hand, for Vox senator José Manuel Marín, with this bill "fraudulent use is made of the legislative initiative because it is done for spurious purposes." "With the repeal of sedition, Spain is left more unprotected against threats against its unity", he asserted, adding that it is a clear "coup d'état by Sánchez to favor his pro-independence partners and remain in La Moncloa".

However, for PNV senator Estefanía Beltrán, the legislative initiative has been "preventively amputated" by the Constitutional Court and "the right of senators to debate and legislate has been curtailed." In her opinion, the culprit for this is the PP that "blocks the renewal of the CGPJ and therefore the TC", and uses "spuriously the courts with expired mandates" to achieve "what cannot be achieved by politics".

For their part, from Ciudadanos they have regretted that 'ad hominem' legislation is being legislated to favor those convicted of the 'procés' and have emphasized the embezzlement reform that they have described as a scandal because it makes it easier "for politicians to steal, steal and embezzle."