Madrid: Tuesday is the vote by MPs in Spain on a very contentious bill that would pardon Catalan separatists and has provoked strong resistance from the right.
Before becoming law, the bill would still need to pass a number of legal reviews.
The hardline Catalan separatist JxCat party put forward the requirement that the measure be passed in exchange for its vital parliamentary support, which will allow Pedro Sanchez to take office as prime minister again in the middle of November.
The contentious statute will be applicable to anyone sought by the legal system in relation to the unsuccessful 2017 Catalan independence attempt, primarily JxCat’s exiled leader Carles Puigdemont, who at the time was the regional leader of Catalonia and fled to Belgium in order to avoid prosecution.
The proposal will be put to a vote by lawmakers on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. (1400 GMT). A majority of 178 members of the 350-seat parliament, including the Socialists, Sumar, its extreme left-wing coalition partner, and the regional parties from Catalonia and Basque Country, must vote in favor of the text.
Even if it is anticipated to pass the first vote, the bill still has a long way to go before it is signed into law.
With an absolute majority in the Senate upper chamber, the right-wing opposition Popular Party (PP) has vowed to do all within its power to impede the bill’s approval.
It has already changed the upper chamber’s procedural norms and will solicit feedback and studies on the measure before making changes and returning it to legislators for a final vote.
The government has “swapped immunity for power” in the “worst version of power”, opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo told 45,000 protesters in central Madrid during the latest demonstration against the amnesty bill at the weekend.
Lambasted for months by members of the judiciary, the bill is also facing a string of legal challenges that could jeopardise its future.
On the eve of the vote, a Barcelona magistrate said he was extending his probe into alleged ties between Puigdemont and the Kremlin to determine whether he had sought Russian support for an eventual Catalan state.
