They will ask about the amnesty but without asking about the amnesty. A new balancing act for Pedro Sánchez in his negotiation on forgiveness for those involved in the process with ERC and Junts. The Federal Committee of the PSOE will approve this Saturday a consultation with its bases that, in addition to asking about the government pact with Sumar, will include in its formulation whether the militancy supports the socialist candidate reaching parliamentary agreements with other political forces to achieve investiture and governability .
With this maneuver, Sánchez seeks to legitimize his already very advanced pact with ERC and Junts on the amnesty, but without specifically asking about this issue and without offering details about the fine print of it. Have a free hand to reach the agreements that are necessary in pursuit of that majority in Congress. But no one is aware that his investiture is subject to amnesty.
“We are going to incorporate if the militancy supports the fact that we reach parliamentary agreements with the rest of the political formations that allow us to achieve the majority for the investiture,” said Sánchez from Brussels, at the end of the European Council and hours before the celebration in Madrid of the Federal Committee of the PSOE, the highest body between congresses. The acting president of the Government has responded from the European capital because in the presentation of his pact with Yolanda Díaz they did not accept questions.
This newspaper already reported at the beginning of September that the PSOE expected Sánchez to use this strategy to legitimize himself and shield himself against criticism. But the term ‘amnesty’ will not appear in the question. Taboo word, at least until now. It will not be referred to. A generic query. “We formulated it in those terms because we want the militancy to speak out on the agreements we have with the rest of the forces and because we cannot go into more detail because we are in that negotiation process,” is the justification of the socialist candidate.
Sánchez has been asked about the position of Emiliano García-Page, president of Castilla-La Mancha, who is opposed not only to the amnesty but also to the negotiation with the independentists, and who has confirmed his attendance at the conclave. “The first thing they have to do is recognize compliance with the Constitution and not go off the rails again,” reiterated the only baron with an absolute majority. Likewise, he has recognized that in the country “there is a debate and very considerable social anxiety.”
“The PSOE is going to speak, and it is going to speak as it usually does. We are a democratic organization because there is debate both inside and outside the bodies. The statutes establish the channels for participation of both the highest representatives in the Federal Committee and the participation of militancy,” Sánchez explained.
The leader of the PSOE will speak on Saturday and many officials and leaders in the party hope that, despite the majority closing of ranks that will take place, there will be a debate on the amnesty. “I will set out my position there on the different aspects that are involved or affect this investiture process.”
Sánchez arrives at the meeting with the ends well tied, as demonstrated by that question to have free rein to agree with the independentists whatever is needed. He does not doubt that the Federal Committee will be nothing more than the green light for his negotiations and pacts.
“I have absolute confidence that the support is going to be very important,” the head of the Executive has anticipated. “I have spoken with many party officials.” Previous field work to bring together an image of closing rows.
The consultation to legitimize their pacts with ERC, Junts and Bildu can also be interpreted as saying that they are already on the exit ramp. All very advanced. Sánchez himself puts it this way. “I hope we have a Government as soon as possible. We have made important progress this week. We are going to continue making progress in the coming days, and I hope that we will have news soon.”