Spain Notes, Nov 29: parliament, King, republic
1/ Parliament was formally opened again with a ceremony in Madrid, following the general election in July, the election of the Speaker in August and the reappointment of Sánchez as Prime Minister this month.
2/ ”Parliaments are the yardstick by which democracy evolves”, said King Felipe: “Each new parliamentary mandate constitutes a ring on the trunk of our democracy”.
3/ Esquerra (Catalan separatists), Bildu (Basque radical left) and BNG (Galician regionalists) didn’t go, in protest at the monarchy: “We don’t have a King”, they said in a joint statement.
4/ There was a similar statement in February 2020, just before the start of the Covid pandemic. Both talk about the monarchy in Spain as an anachronism inherited from the Franco dictatorship.
5/ Feijóo (PP) said it was a “democratic anomaly” that elected MPs, allies of the new government, chose not to attend the opening of parliament and boycott the King.
6/ Ayuso (PP, Madrid) said of Sánchez: “I think the Prime Minister wants to be the President of the next republic”.
7/ There appeared to be no alt-right led protests outside parliament this time but a few people continue to protest each evening outside PSOE HQ in Madrid, “defending justice and the unity of Spain”.
8/ PSOE representatives are to meet Junts (Puigdemont) representatives…in Geneva this weekend, TVE reports.
9/ “Asked by Playbook if we had heard that snippet correctly, Puigdemont confirmed: If ‘there is not sufficient progress’ with Sánchez’s Socialist Party in negotiations for Catalonia’s recognition as a nation, ‘We could vote with the PP to topple the budget … or for a resolution on Israel, where our position is actually more aligned.’”
10/ Manfred Weber (Germany, CSU, EPP) was in Barcelona on Monday: “to continue our fight for the Rule of Law and for the unity of Spain. We will not ignore the European flags in the streets. Europe must have an answer to the breakdown of the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers”. He said Feijóo (PP) deserves “full support” against Sánchez on this.
11/ After his trip to Israel, Sánchez has spoken to a bunch of foreign leaders over the past couple of days: Erdogan (Turkey), Peña (Paraguay), Akhannouch (Morocco), Albanese (Australia).
12/ Feijóo (PP) has reshuffled some senior people at the top of the Popular Party after failing to become Prime Minister, naming four female deputy secretaries and a new parliamentary spokesman (Miguel Tellado; Gamarra is out)
13/ The Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) has decided to use the Spanish flag in its corporate branding again. Sánchez tried this before, back in 2015, with a giant Spanish flag at a rally that shocked everyone then.
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Precise & fascinating as always Matthew.
Thank you
"”Parliaments are the yardstick by which democracy evolves”, said King Felipe: “Each new parliamentary mandate constitutes a ring on the trunk of our democracy”."
I don't know what "democracy" this man is talking about if the Spanish parliament does not represent the citizens (the 'demos' of the word democracy), but rather represents the political leaders, who are the ones who elect the parliamentarians who go to the elections in closed electoral lists. Spanish citizens just distribute representatives of the leaders, not representatives of the Spanish people.
Hence 'miracles' occur, such as more than a hundred people convinced that the amnesty for the 'procés' is improper and unconstitutional, ALL changing their minds, without exception, at the same time as the party leader.
No sé de qué "democracia" habla este señor si el parlamento español no representa a los ciudadanos (el 'demos' de la palabra 'democracia'), sino que representa a los líderes políticos, que son los que eligen a los parlamentarios que van en las listas electorales cerradas. Los ciudadanos españoles se limitan a repartir representantes de los líderes, no representantes de los españoles.
De ahí que se produzcan 'milagros' como que más de cien personas convencidas de que la amnistía al 'procés' es impropia e inconstitucional, cambien de opinión TODAS, sin excepción, a la vez que el líder del partido.