Spain’s Sánchez faces pivotal decision on pardoning Catalan separatists

MADRID — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is on the brink of making a defining decision of his tenure: issuing pardons for jailed Catalan independence leaders.

In the coming weeks, Sánchez is expected to approve partial pardons for nine leaders who were convicted in 2019 of sedition, and in four cases misuse of public funds, for their role in a failed bid for independence two years earlier. The sentences run from nine years to 13 years in the case of Oriol Junqueras, former Catalan vice president.

Such a decision could mark a major turning point in the long-running territorial dispute with separatists in the wealthy northeast corner of the country, distinguishing Sánchez from the hardball tactics of his conservative predecessor. It could also ensure he maintains the support of Catalan nationalists in the Spanish parliament, on whom his government depends to pass legislation. But it’s a gamble that is likely to hurt him in the polls and hand the right-wing opposition ammunition to step up its attacks on his leftist administration.

The pardons have been requested by an independent lawyer, a labor union, three former presidents of the Catalan parliament and a minor political party. However, the Supreme Court, which convicted the nine Catalan leaders and three others who avoided jail sentences, has advised the government against issuing the pardons. The court said it saw no reason for leniency, adding that those in prison had not shown “the slightest trace of remorse.”

Sánchez, of the Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), and his coalition government have made clear they intend to disregard the court’s recommendation, which is not binding. The pardons being prepared are expected to reduce each of the jail sentences, allowing the nine to walk free, but with the proviso that if they reoffend they will return to prison.

Sánchez has repeatedly signaled his intentions in recent weeks. On June 9, he called for Spaniards to show “magnanimity” on this matter. 

“I understand that there might be compatriots in Catalonia and across the country who have qualms about the possibility of pardoning the Catalan prisoners,” he said. “But I ask them to have faith because we have to aim for coexistence. We have to aim for reparation for those mistakes made in 2017 … and which I have inherited from the previous administration.” 

The government reasons that by releasing the nine leaders, it will clear the air and lay the groundwork for an eventual solution to the Catalan conflict.

“[The pardons] would be a prerequisite when it comes to seeking a calming of tensions of the Catalan conflict,” said Lluís Orriols, a political scientist at Carlos III University, who describes the imprisonment of the nine as a “deeply emotional issue” for independence supporters.

The region’s new president, Pere Aragonès of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), has cautiously welcomed the idea, as has the jailed Junqueras, who is the party’s leader, although both have said an amnesty would be preferable.

In a recent commentary article published in Catalan and Spanish, Junqueras advocated the pardons as “gestures which can soothe the conflict, ease the pain.”

Since 2017, ERC has eschewed its all-or-nothing approach to independence and taken a more gradualist line, identifying the Scottish National Party (SNP) as a model. The freeing of the prisoners would be a boost for Aragonès, with polls showing that a clear majority of Catalans support the move. It would also strengthen his hand with relation to Together for Catalonia (JxCat), the more hardline junior partner in the regional government, which continues to evoke the unilateralist approach of four years ago.

There are already signs of a thaw between Madrid and Barcelona. Aragonès and Sánchez have agreed to restart negotiations aimed at tackling the territorial conundrum, after they were interrupted by the pandemic. The two spoke at an event in Barcelona on June 7, confirming their commitment to dialogue.

Sánchez’s government is also preparing a reform of the penal code that would revise the crime of sedition — an alternative, albeit slower, route to the release of the prisoners.

However, JxCat’s leader, the self-exiled Carles Puigdemont, who is now living in Belgium and serving as an MEP, has downplayed the significance of the talks and the pardons. Other radical factions in the secessionist camp have even warned against the latter measure, arguing it will weaken their hand.

Elisenda Paluzie, president of the most influential grassroots nationalist organization, the Catalan National Assembly, tweeted that the pardons would be “an intelligent political decision by the Spanish government against the independence movement.” By making Madrid look benevolent, it “disarms us on a political level,” she said.

The central government agrees, to the extent that it expects the pardons to marginalize the more unilateralist pro-independence factions, including the Waterloo-based Puigdemont, undermining their claims about the quality of Spanish democracy.

“Spain has had problems explaining this situation to the international community,” said one person close to the government. “The independence movement did a great campaign aimed at making this an international cause.”

That person added: “But with the pardons, they know that they can no longer go around Europe saying that in Spain there are political prisoners.”

Backlash on the right

For Sánchez, the drawbacks linked to the anticipated pardons lie outside Catalonia, where a major backlash is building against the initiative.

The right-wing opposition argues that not only should the Catalan prisoners serve their time, but that Sánchez’s clemency is a cynical political ploy rather than a well-intentioned move to solve the territorial crisis. They point out that in 2019, he said the jail sentences should be served in full. His U-turn, they charge, is due to the fact that his coalition needs the parliamentary support of Aragonès and ERC.

Pablo Casado, leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP), described the pardons as “a dark transaction” and Sánchez as “a hostage to those who wish to destroy Spain.”

The PP has started gathering signatures for a petition against the pardons. The far-right Vox, meanwhile, has said it will appeal the pardons and also file a lawsuit against the Cabinet for alleged misuse of power.

On Sunday, the scale of the outrage the pardons are generating will become clear when a demonstration against them is held in Madrid’s Plaza de Colón. The leaders of the PP, Vox and the center-right Ciudadanos plan to attend.

“Sánchez is not pardoning the coup-mongers, he’s pardoning himself,” said Rosa Díez, a former Socialist politician who co-founded the social-liberal Union, Progress and Democracy party, and is organizing Sunday’s protest.

However, while Sánchez is used to facing off against a united right, he will be concerned at the potential impact of his upcoming decision among his own voters and allies.

A Sigma Dos poll stated that 61 percent of Spaniards oppose the measure, a figure that only drops to 53 percent among PSOE voters.

“This could end up hurting the government in the polls,” said Orriols, of Carlos III University. “In the short term, we could see a marked dip for an administration which until now had been holding up well despite the healthcare crisis.”

Some senior figures within the PSOE, already unhappy with Sánchez’s reliance on Catalan and Basque nationalists, have openly dissented. The Socialist president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, described the planned pardons as “one of the biggest mistakes of the democratic era.”

The timing appears to favor Sánchez, however. In theory, the fallout from the pardons will be behind him by the next general election, due in 2023. By then, the benefits of EU coronavirus funds may have kicked in.

In the meantime, an international verdict on the issue is expected from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). On June 21, the PACE, which is dedicated to issues of human rights and democracy, will debate a proposal by its own committee on legal affairs to “consider pardoning or otherwise release the Catalan leaders” and to consider dropping charges against other pro-independence politicians who have fled the country.

Such is the political-legal tangle of the Catalan issue that a vote in favor of those motions would be a blow for the Spanish judiciary but a boost of sorts for the government as it braces itself for the coming storm.