At a time when the entire right wing opposition was accusing the Socialist led government or its appeasement policies towards the Catalonian separatists, it was the first time the Socialists led a Catalan election in both votes and seats won. The result would seem to be a perfect payoff for Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his efforts to reduce tensions in Catalonia in recent years in cooperation with the coalition partner the Spanish Communist Party.

The biggest takeaway from the election was that it’s the worst result for the forces of Catalan independence since 1982,” said Andrew Dowling, a specialist in Catalan history at Cardiff University in Wales. The general perception that Catalonia is dominated by the separatist parties is gone. Now the Sanchez government can go ahead with its amnesty scheme with full confidence since the results have given political control to the Spanish socialists also.

Only three weeks ago, the Sanchez government was in a major crisis over the allegations of corruption against the PM’s wife and the consequent legal proceedings. There was a big demand from the right wing opposition for PM’s resignation but he defied that and resolved to meet the challenge of the opposition in Parliament.

The decision of the Spanish Prime Minister to remain, was a relief to the Left coalition in Spain as also the Left in Europe. Spain is the only country among the European Union members which leads a proper coalition of pro-left forces including the Communist Party. PM Sanchez has been fighting the rightwing onslaught against the coalition since he took over in 2020 as the Prime Minister of the newly formed left coalition.

Sanchez got a big jolt on April 24 , as a Madrid judge accepted the petition from a far-right organization to open a political corruption and graft investigation into his wife, Begoña Gómez. Sánchez released a highly charged public letter in which he announced that he was considering resigning and he would announce his decision the following week. His announcement led to disquiet in the coalition camp and he was persuaded not to resign but fight the battle both in court as also in political arena. Ultimately he understood the game plan of the right and decided to battle it out as the PM.

The battle of the Prime Minister and his coalition government with the Spanish judiciary is not new. It has been a major issue for Sánchez’s left-leaning coalition since it took office in 2020. Ever since, reactionary elements in the upper echelons of the justice system have operated as an undemocratic parallel power, aiming to discipline and undermine what they see as an “illegitimate” government.’. The current judicial offensive has been unrelenting since last November when Sánchez’s PSOE finalized a parliamentary alliance with Catalan nationalist parties in exchange for an amnesty law for those involved in the failed 2017 independence push.

The proposed amnesty was denounced in polemical terms by the country’s largest association of judges as “the beginning of the end of democracy” in Spain. The right-wing-dominated General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) characterized it as involving the “erosion, if not the abolition, of the rule of law.” At the same time, a series of terrorism investigations were suddenly taken up by the courts against Catalan politicians, journalists, and activists, in an apparent attempt to undermine the amnesty and destabilize the government’s fragile parliamentary majority.

Political observers view that the real opposition to the Spanish left coalition is not the rightwing parties but the judiciary and Supreme Court judge Manuel Marchena is the de facto opposition leader. “In Spain there is a problem with the separation of powers,” wrote El Diario editor-in-chief Ignacio Escolar in 2021. “But it is not the government that is overstepping the powers assigned to it but the judiciary. The latter is seeking to exercise functions that are not its own and engaging in politics. For quite a while the political right has been acting in coordination with the right-wing of the judiciary.”

As the Jacobin magazine points out the current judicial offensive, of which the Gómez case forms a part, can be traced back to the call to arms issued by right-wing figurehead José María Aznar last November, as the new left-leaning coalition between PSOE and Sumar was about to take office. “Pedro Sánchez is a danger to Spain,” insisted former prime minister Aznar, as it became clear that the PSOE and the Catalan parties’ amnesty negotiations were nearing an agreement. “We are facing an unprecedented constitutional crisis,” he continued. “Whoever can do something, should do it, and whoever can contribute, should contribute. There is no room for inhibition.”

The victory of the centre-left coalition led by the socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in the Spain’s Parliament on November 17 last year after two day of fiery debate disappointed the Right who was looking for the defeat of Sanchez coalition. The victory was possible due to the PM agreeing to the amnesty for the Catalan separatists resulting in the two Basque parties extending support to the minority coalition. Sanchez Government got 179 votes in 350-member Parliament. The term of this Government is for four years till 2027.

In the general elections on July 23 2023, the main rightist party led by Fezoo along with the far right Vox got171 seats , just five short of majority but all efforts by this right combine to form government failed as no other party was willing to support them. The most important was the two Basque parties with a total of eight seats. After prolonged negotiations, PM arrived at an understanding with the two Basque parties on the basis of the amnesty scheme for the separatist Catalonians who have been facing legal problems. Altogether, Sanchez succeeded in collecting 14 votes outside the Left coalition and this made his win in Parliament possible. The smaller parties had six seats.

The Amnesty scheme has created a big furore in mainland Spain as many common Spaniards are very angry with the Catalonian separatists for their secessionist movement since 2017. PM Sanchez’s Socialist Party as also the Communist Party which is the main Left party in the coalition had reservations. The Catalonian communists suffered at the hands of the protagonists of the separate Catalonia movement. But in the last few months, talks were held with the ruling coalition partners for a solution within the framework of united Spain. The communist Deputy Prime Minister Yalonda Diaz contributed in a big way in facilitating this understanding. All indications were that the Left coalition is stabilizing.

Now the Socialist coalition has vindicated itself. The Catalonian separatists have been defeated in the regional elections. The Catalonian government will be run by the Socialists. There will be a synergy in operations between the central government in Madrid and the new one in the region. The rightwing backlash over the implementation of the amnesty scheme will lose its edge. That is a major gain for the Left coalition. At long last, there is a ray of hope that the Sanchez government will complete its full term. (IPA Service)