Article 116.5 CE, the reason why socialists are interested in violence in Spain

@ElentirENG ES 11·08·2023 · 7:00 0

The protest against the amnesty yesterday in Madrid has been the largest since the PSOE coup against the rule of law in Spain began.

November 7: the protest against the amnesty in Madrid overflows with thousands of people
Harsh criticism from the Police against the charge ordered by the government in Madrid

A peaceful protest broken up by a small group of rioters

As has happened in other cities in Spain, the vast majority of participants in that protest had peaceful behavior, the same behavior that the Spanish right has been exhibiting in the demonstrations it has been carrying out for years, something that cannot be said of many of the demonstrations on the left. However, and as I already indicated here, a small group of troublemakers appeared at the last minute to cause serious disturbances.

The Police had a contained and adequate action this Tuesday

These riots have left 39 injured, including 29 police officers. It must be said that if the police charge on Monday was criticized by police unions), this Tuesday the Police acted with restraint and appropriately, not using gas - despite the fact that the incidents were more serious than those on Monday, when they were used - and directing the action of the UIP riot control agents against the violent people. First of all, I want to express my most absolute rejection of those rioters who attacked the Police. The violent do not represent the vast majority of democrats who protest in Spain against this attack on their democracy.

From here I want to express all my solidarity with the injured police officers and my wishes for a speedy recovery, and also my gratitude to the Police for the work carried out yesterday. I do not forget that the Police was the first line of defense of democracy against the separatist coup of 2017 in Catalonia. Due to his dedication to that defense, several agents were seriously injured and saw their professional careers cut short. We Spaniards owe gratitude and recognition to the National Police. Even though in their ranks, as everywhere, there are people who behave inappropriately, as we saw on Monday, these black sheep cannot tarnish the prestige and merits of an institution to which we Spaniards owe so much.

The great favor that these troublemakers do to the socialist government

It should be noted that those rioters of yesterday, whether they were infiltrators or extremists from the extreme right (the real extreme right, made up of nazis and fascists, and I don't know what they do in a protest in defense of the democracy), they did a great favor to the socialist government. First of all, because now their related media are using that violence of a minority to discredit a protest that was peaceful until those madmen appeared. And secondly, because this violence, if it continues and escalates, could do more than just a propaganda favor to the left.

Time is running against Sánchez

Last night, the journalist Javier Torrox indicated a piece of information that should cause alarm. On the one hand, Article 99.5 of the Constitution states the following:

"Si transcurrido el plazo de dos meses, a partir de la primera votación de investidura, nin"If any candidate has obtained the confidence of Congress, the King will dissolve both Chambers and call new elections with the endorsement of the President of Congress."

Feijóo's failed investiture session took place on September 27, despite the fact that the two-month period for Pedro Sánchez's investiture ends on November 27. The PSOE had the forecast that this week its pact with the Junts separatists could be closed, but the indictment of the fugitive Carles Puigdemont for a crime of terrorism has complicated things, since Article 83.1 of the Founding Treaty of the European Union includes terrorism as one of the matters that imply minimum standards relative to the definition of criminal offenses in the European Union.

In other words: the PSOE cannot simply amnesty a person accused of terrorism, because it would conflict with European Law and the judge handling that case could appeal to the Court of Justice of the Union European Court (CJEU). Sánchez would no longer only be facing a serious institutional conflict in Spain, which has been made evident with the declaration approved on Monday by the General Council of Judiciary (CGPJ) rejecting the amnesty for being "a serious violation of fundamental rights." Amnestying Puigdemont's accusation of terrorism would imply a clash with Brussels.

Sánchez could use violence as a pretext for Article 116.5

Right now, time is against Sánchez. The deadline to negotiate with Puigdemont and receive his support in exchange for an amnesty is running out, and at the same time, if there were new elections, he would not have time to make many of his voters forget about this infamous concession before the separatists. The government needs to buy time. But how to do it if the Constitution establishes that deadline?

The answer is in the second part of Javier Torrox's message, which states what Article 116 of the Spanish Constitution says, specifically in point 5:

"Congress cannot be dissolved while some of the states included in this article are declared, and the Chambers will be automatically convened if they are not in session. Its operation, as well as that of the other constitutional powers of the State, may not be interrupted during the validity of these states."

Article 116.5 would give Sánchez what he desperately needs: more time

The states indicated in Article 116 are the states of alarm, emergency and siege. The last two need the authorization of Congress for their declaration, but the state of alarm can be approved by the government by decree. After its approval, the government would have 15 days for the state to be extended by Congress. Let us remember that the PSOE has already approved a state of alarm in 2010 against a controllers' strike, so I would have much less qualms about approving one with the excuse of combating an outbreak of street violence, even if I did not do so with a much bigger outbreak like the one that occurred in Catalonia in 2019.

Socialists are interested in violence, and the more the better

Thus, at the present time, socialists are interested in there being violence, and the more the better, because the more serious the incidents are, the easier it would be for them to use them as an excuse to approve a state of alarm and save time. In this scenario, that minority of troublemakers who suddenly appeared yesterday to organize riots would play an important role in giving that excuse to the government. Whether the rioters are infiltrators of the State services, as some claim, or madmen from the extreme right (or even madmen manipulated by certain State organs: in Spain we have already seen much more bizarre things), they act like the useful fools of the left.

Regardless of the seriousness of the current moment that we live in Spain, it does not seem a coincidence that until now all the right-wing demonstrations have been peaceful and suddenly these madmen appear to sow violence in the streets, just when It benefits the most and when the socialists need it most. In any case, the democrats who are demonstrating in defense of the rule of law peacefully must isolate them, because they do not represent us and also to prevent these troublemakers from being successful.

The booing of fascists and neo-nazis at yesterday's protest

It must be said that yesterday several fascists and neo-nazis who appeared at the Madrid protests received a good dose of boos from the rest of the protesters, which honors the majority of those who attended that protest. They are not ours. We do not want anything with anti-democrats who have more in common with socialists than with liberals and conservatives. It is also something very different from what we have seen in left-wing demonstrations: socialists have never had qualms about sharing demonstrations with all kinds of totalitarians, even when they openly display their communist paraphernalia. That is another of the big differences between the democratic right and the Spanish left.

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Photo: Europa Press.