We can imagine a meme of The Surrender of Bredaof Diego Velazquezwhere a Sanchez The victorious man bows elegantly to pick up the keys to the kingdom given to him by a surrendered Feijoo. We can evoke that verse from the old Argentine anthem, “at his feet a lion surrenderedn”, referring to Spain’s expulsion from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. That is what fine culture is for: it cannot change the abuses committed, but it allows us to understand them better and even laugh for a while, which in politics is always healthier than crying.
The pact between Sánchez and the Popular Party for the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has all the ingredients of a parody: as in an unfortunate game of goose, the apparent movement of progress has returned us to the starting point. The agreement has been signed at the request and under pressure of a European Commission that has also just divided the European groups of both parties, which explains many things: the rule is that Spain does not deserve the trouble of risking a large Member State crisis.
An obscene procedure
The changes promised are limited to consulting in a few months to the CGPJ emerging from the new bipartisan distribution how it sees change the election procedure so that judges participate in some way: that is to say, that the CGPJ will be judge and party, that it will take its time, that it will consult whoever it wants, it will present a report that Congress will see if it is blessed by the PP and PSOE, and here peace and then glory. Read here a authorized summaryand moderate, of a practicing magistrate judge.
For the rest, the procedure has been as obscene as tradition dictates: the two parties have divided the body, placing their trusted magistrates, and refer to a domesticated and irrelevant Parliament, reduced to a consultative ratification chamber (like the decorative Bundestag of Bismarck), which was decided in Brussels by a minister and a representative of the PP. One cannot dream of a more appropriate staging of the death of the separation of powers.: decided behind the scenes by the Government and an opposition party, outside the Cortes and outside of Spain.
Every parody can degenerate into absurdity, and this being so frequent that it ascends to normality (who thought it possible that someone like Oscar Puente (if he were a minister and de facto spokesman for the Government?) The only novelty of the distribution is to exclude the minor partners, a detail that some present as indication of quality.
One understands that the news that the pact for the CGPJ not only makes things worse, but only benefits Sánchez, is too bad to be admitted without further ado.
But it’s just a sign that Sánchez concludes a cycle and is preparing for another more bipartisan one: He alone against the PPopportunely surrendered at his feet not only for the content of the pact, but for the form: how can he now protest against the meetings in Switzerland with the Catalan coup plotters?; how can he condemn secret negotiations to divide up the State institutions between parties? Plus the implicit admission that, as he was accused, the PP was boycotting the Constitution.
One understands that the news that the agreement by the CGPJ not only makes things worse, but only benefits Sánchez, is too bad to be accepted without further ado (Cassandra’s office implies a lack of credibility). However, the toner on the document had not yet dried and Patxi Lopez He was quick to declare that judges will no longer have elective prominence than before, that is, none outside the chosen associations for playing by the rules of the oligopoly. To confirm this, the judicial association Francisco de Vitoria and the Independent Judicial Forumand of course the 50% of unaffiliated judges, have been excluded.
Ruin all hope
The closed pact therefore certifies the burial of a reasonably independent judiciary. It was possible to reconquer it by returning, at least, to the constitutional election system prior to 1985, liquidated by the PSOE of Felipe Gonzalez and Alfonso Guerra (who boasted of the burial of Montesquieu). Force the Government to reform the CGPJ Law before changing the body It is a requirement as common sense as asking to borrow money before demanding its return, but the right wing of the Popular Party has preferred to ruin hope: there was too much at stake, too dangerous. And perhaps not very desirable for its future.
Europe is responsible for my actions in Spain, not me.
Regarding the Amnesty Law, a European path can be predicted without excessive surprises, not very different from Sánchez’s forgiveness for non-compliance with tax regulations.
Just as Feijóo was unable to obtain from Ursula von Der Leyden an express mention against the Amnesty Law during the last electoral campaign, they have also been unable to get the Commission to impose Sánchez the change of the Law before the election of the new CGPJ to ensure judicial prominence. The pertinent question is whether they have even tried.
Unfortunately for justice and democracy in Spain, The Commission will ignore our grievances because, unlike Poland either Hungary, those who dismantle it here are their own parties. Thus, with respect to the Amnesty Law, a European journey can be predicted without excessive shocks, not very different from Sánchez’s forgiveness for non-compliance with fiscal rules and the failure of European funds.
As when the nefarious pacts with ETA and the Pujol and its countless thieves, it will take some time before public opinion accepts what has happened, because unexpected death is initially rejected. Psychology has studied the stages of mourning in these cases, agreeing that it goes through five and The first is the denial of death, in which we are; follow those of Anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance; Let’s take it easy.
We are once again left with a span of noses just when the widespread indignation over the assaults on justice, and over the legalization of corruption via TC, opened the return of the separation of powers with a judicial power autonomous from the political parties. The reason is the inability to the so-called moderate right, but in reality useless, suffered too many times, to face structural challenges that imply profound changes.
Rajoy The party squandered its absolute majority with the Lampedusa veto to any change, rolling out the red carpet for the return of the PSOE. They have once again chosen conformism, pusillanimity and surrender under the euphemistic protection of the “sense of State”, in reality panic at the risk of change. They have preferred to negotiate post-truth and its stories instead of risking a decisive battle for the democracy that is disappearing. Blessed be Cassandra, who announced the future that no one wanted to see.
Add Comment