Socialists Deny That the Senate Represents the Spaniards: This is What the Constitution Says

@ElentirENG ES 8·23·2018 · 21:25 0

The pact of the Socialist Party (PSOE) and the far-leftist Podemos to bypass the control of the Senate, violating the Constitution bluntly, has been defended in La Sexta by Adriana Lastra, socialist spokesman in Congress.

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"National sovereignty belongs to the Spanish people"

Demonstrating absolute ignorance about what the Spanish Constitution affirms, Lastra has denounced as "undemocratic" that the Upper House has "veto power over a decision of Congress, where national sovereignty resides" (you can see the video here, from the minute 3:43). The socialist spokeswoman should review what the Spanish Constitution says. To begin with, national sovereignty does not reside in Congress, but in "the Spanish people, from whom all State powers emanate" (Article 1.2). It is a very important nuance: the Congress and the Senate exercise a function of representation, but sovereignty resides in the people, not in their politicians.

"The Cortes Generales represent the Spanish people and consist of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate"

Likewise, it seems that Lastra has not read Article 66: "The Cortes Generales represent the Spanish people and consist of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate." That same article recalls that the Cortes, that is, both the Congress and the Senate, "exercise the legislative power of the State, approve its Budget" and "control Government action." It is this task of control that socialists and communists want to get round, simply because they do not have a majority in the Senate. An attitude of people who have no respect for democratic rules.

Modifying an organic law with a decree-law is unconstitutional

On the other hand, we must remember that the Law of Budgetary Stability not only grants veto power to the Senate, but also to Congress. Article 15.6 says: "If the Congress of Deputies or the Senate reject the objectives, the Government, within a maximum period of one month, will send a new agreement that will be subject to the same procedure." In addition, that law was approved in Congress with 192 votes in favor, 116 against and four abstentions. A majority that the PSOE and its allies do not have today. To annul an organic law through a decree-law is unconstitutional, as indicated in Article 86 of the Constitution and as ratified by the Constitutional Court in its judgment 60/1986. If that constitutional prohibition is ignored, the Government could be accused of a crime of prevarication. It can not be expected that a government that does not respect the Constitution will show respect for a lower-ranking norm such as the Penal Code. It is their problem. In Spain there are judges willing to send politicians to prison if they break the law, as the Supreme Court has already demonstrated with the Catalan coup leaders.

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(Photo: Senado.es)