Spain’s Pedro Sánchez loses amnesty vote after Catalan partners rebel

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has lost a crucial vote in the Spanish parliament after his Catalan partners rebelled, tipping his government into crisis.

Seven Catalan separatist politicians voted against an amnesty law they have been negotiating for months because Sanchez’s Socialists refused to accept last-minute changes to the text. The result raises the prospect that the Socialist-led administration could collapse less than three months after it was sworn in.

The vote ended with 179 against and 171 in favour. A majority requires 176 votes.

The amnesty law was the central plank of a controversial agreement that Mr Sanchez stitched together with the separatists to secure a third term late last year. In exchange for the votes he needed to complete a narrow majority, Sanchez (51), promised to waive criminal charges against hundreds of Catalan activists who were involved in staging an illegal referendum on independence in 2017.

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Most notably, the deal would allow the separatist leader and former Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, to return to Spain after six years of self-imposed exile near Brussels.

Catalan officials started requesting changes to the draft law in recent days after two judges revived long-shelved criminal inquiries linked to the independence push. One of the cases is for terrorism and the other for treason, both crimes that would not be covered by the existing amnesty.

Now, the law will return to parliamentary committees, where the Socialists will have another chance to negotiate changes. Politicians have 15 days to agree on a new draft.

Even if there is no deal to bring the Catalans back on side, that doesn’t necessarily mean the end of Mr Sanchez’s premiership. Under Spanish parliamentary rules, a prime minister can only be removed if their opponents can rally behind an alternative government.

But the result underlines Mr Sanchez’s weakness and his limited ability to pass legislation, including the 2024 budget. It is likely to prompt calls for him to step aside or to call a fresh election. – Bloomberg