MADRID (AFP) – Pedro Sanchez won the backing of Spain’s Parliament yesterday for another term as prime minister, with the country divided over his decision to grant Catalan separatists an amnesty in exchange for their crucial support in a vote of confidence.
Sanchez, in office since 2018, won the backing of 179 lawmakers, three more than the absolute majority of 176 in the 350-seat Parliament after an often tense two-day debate.
His Socialist party finished second in an inconclusive July general election but he reached deals with several smaller parties to back re-establishing his minority coalition government with hard-left party Sumar.
To win the support of two Catalan separatist parties, he agreed to grant amnesty to hundreds of people facing legal action for their role in Catalonia’s separatist movement over the past decade.
Among the beneficiaries is Carles Puigdemont, who headed the regional government of Catalonia when it staged a failed secession bid in 2017.
Puigdemont organised referendum that was banned by the central government, followed by a short-lived declaration of independence that sparked Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.
Puigdemont fled to Belgium to avoid prosecution. An amnesty would allow him to return to Spain, while many Spaniards consider him an enemy of the state.
Sanchez, who has made a career out of making political gambles, defended the amnesty during the parliamentary debate, arguing it was constitutional and needed to “heal the wounds” opened by the wealthy northeastern region’s independence push.
Critics argue the amnesty is a self-serving measure to allow Sanchez to remain in power and accuse him of trampling on the rule of law.
