Yesterday morning, Isabel Rodríguez, the government’s minister spokesperson, complained that what is highlighted in the press “has nothing to do with what has been adopted in the Council of Ministers”. And she concluded that “just as we have a space for the weather, to find out if it is going to rain, given the need for the public to have access to accurate information, we should reserve a space for public information in each news item”… Aló Presidente?
Pedro Sánchez, convinced that they do it right but the press explains it wrong, went to his friendly television channel (the licence was granted by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero) to explain to Spaniards, directly, that in agreement with his government partners they are going to remove the crime of sedition from the Penal Code and replace it with the crime of “aggravated public disorder”.
As Sánchez has acknowledged, this was his compromise with ERC, the hegemonic force in Catalan independence, which since the beginning of this legislature has supported the slim majority of the government (PSOE-UP) in exchange for what both parties call ‘de-judicialisation’ of the conflict (pardon for the coup plotters, elimination of the crime of sedition…).
The recognition of this commitment led the PP to break off negotiations on the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary, and Sánchez has decided to address the issue as soon as possible – he will try to have the reform done before the end of the year – no doubt with the idea of distancing the reform, as far as possible, from the regional elections next May. Elections in which the PSOE barons know that such a decision will most likely cost them re-election.
