The president of Congress, Francina Armengol, dedicated her speech to praising the Constitution, the spirit of consensus and “the generosity” that allowed that “pact between different people.” “If we were able to reach an agreement,” he said, “in the moments of greatest difficulty, if the general interest prevailed over everything else and the search for harmony went beyond confrontation, then the path of understanding is marked: it is marked by the Constitution itself”.
Armengol has stressed that “concern, contempt or confrontation are not written in the Constitution” and has assured that “the law of laws continues to be the most effective cure against discord.”
Armengol has made special mention of title VIII of the Constitution on the territorial model which, he stated, “integrates the diversity that coexists in our country and the richness that a plural State represents and leaves the way open to advance in the process of bringing closer citizens to make decisions. This is a statement that has been interpreted in the ranks of the opposition as a semi-veiled commitment to the right to decide, in short, to the right to self-determination. However, and in view of the confusion that her words have generated, her communications team has issued a note addressed to the press clarifying that the president’s statements should be interpreted as a commitment to “strengthen the autonomous State” and bring it closer. to the citizens.
The president has asked to “assume the privilege of differences, embracing the heterogeneous” and has opted to “convert a country into a more modern, freer, more prosperous and fairer country.” “We have,” she defended, “to reach agreements for the benefit of the common good and contribute to designing the country for the next generations.”
In his opinion, “being a constitutionalist does not consist of raising the Magna Carta as if it were a totem, but rather assuming that we can reach agreements to comply with and develop it.” And he added: “Towards the challenges that await us, we must look together.”
However, despite all this praise, Armengol has assured that in the mirror of the Constitution “we do not see ourselves fully reflected” and has opted to continue working to make “his word a reality” and “reflect ourselves in it.” This is: “deploy and update the mandates of the Constitution. And do so from pluralism and respect for the legitimacy of the other.”
The president of Congress has insisted, echoing the words of the President of the Government, on the “total obligation to comply with it.” “We should abide by each and every one of its precepts,” she stated before lamenting that “there are pending issues.” These subjects are, in her opinion, those that affect equality, housing, public services and the environment.
For the PP, Armengol’s speech has been “made in Ferraz”: “Armengol, who is converting Congress into a branch of the PSOE, has spoken today of a “decision-making process” on the “territorial issue” and must give urgent explanations regarding this statement,” say popular sources.
The PP accuses the president of Congress of putting herself “at the head of the demands of those who have proposed a complete amendment to our Constitution, in the form of an amnesty that is on its way to becoming the first law of the Government in the Legislature.”
“There is no precedent for a president of Congress to use institutional events, such as the solemn opening of a Legislature or the celebration of Constitution Day, to convey online messages of what Sánchez defends to continue in Moncloa, which involves giving privileges to disruptive formations and enemies of the Magna Carta,” they add.