June 07, 2018

Time for democratic recovery in Spain

located:	Spain
editor:	Maria João Morais

The fall of the Popular Party Government in Spain, through a vote of no confidence, may have been surprising in how quickly a weakened opposition leader got the support needed to oust Mariano Rajoy from Moncloa Palace, but the signs of decay in the right-wing Executive have been accumulating for long, indicating that this could eventually be the outcome.

That is why many hope that the motion passed in Parliament by the Socialist Party (PSOE) –whose leader, Pedro Sánchez, is the now the president – with the backing of left-wing Podemos as well as Basque and Catalan nationalist groups, will be the answer for the democratic regeneration that Spain so desperately needs.

In addition to being one of the most corrupt parties in Europe, since it has been in power, Rajoy's the People's Party (PP) has also been showing signs of increasing authoritarianism. This has been particularly clear in the way the government has dealt with the process of Catalan self-determination, whose referendum attempt was marked by violent repression by the state security forces. At the same time, by refusing dialogue with Catalonia and by criminalising the ambitions for independence, the Rajoy government only fuelled a resurgence of the conflict and the separatist claim itself.

Thus, although PSOE has supported Rajoy in limiting Catalan self-government, Pedro Sánchez wants to bring the Catalan question to the table of political dialogue and has been sounding out proposals for the territorial problem. Even though they do not represent concessions to the independentist sector, the PSOE are expected to represent a breakthrough in negotiations with Barcelona, ​​given that the Catalan government is now back in office.

Meanwhile, the new socialist President has another urgent issue: to reverse the democratic regression that has intensified in recent months in Spain, with cases such as the arrest of singers or the censorship of artists. A poll published in April revealed that 62 percent of Spaniards believed that freedom of expression was in decline, to a great extent due to the controversial public security law passed by PP, which cracked down on freedom of assembly and expression.

It is important, therefore, that the new President – who is giving positive signs in terms of Gender Equality by setting up a Government with the highest number of women in ministerial roles in the world – will also be able to help Spain recover from its preceding democratic claustrophobia. Reforming and bringing manipulation of public television to an end – which Sánchez has promised – will mark a significant step in the right direction.