A number of retired military generals in Spain are calling for an army coup to remove the prime minister after Pedro Sánchez regained power by agreeing to a controversial amnesty for Catalan separatists.
Fifty one retired officers wrote a letter demanding “those responsible for the defence of constitutional order for the dismissal of the prime minister and the calling of general elections."
In July Sánchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE) was narrowly defeated by its conservative rivals in the People’s party (PP).
But Sánchez gained support from hard-Left and regional parties to win approval from the majority in Congress.
Sánchez gained support from hard-Left and regional parties to win approval from the majority in Congress on Thursday
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On Friday, an open letter was published on the website of the AME association of Spanish armed forces members.
The prime minister was condemned for violating judicial independence and defying the constitutional principle of equality between Spaniards by favouring Catalans with a generalised leniency for criminal acts.
Several of the signatories reportedly includes those who were investigated in 2020 over a WhatsApp chat which discussed ousting Sánchez, even though it might mean having “to kill 26 million sons of bitches”.
No charges were brought following the investigation.
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In the same year, more than 70 retired officers sent a letter to King Felipe, asking him to intervene in Spain’s political situation.
Sánchez has been accused of damaging democracy by pardoning Catalans who committed crimes during the region’s failed effort to separate from Spain in 2017.
The prime minister has been “buying” the support of Catalans and committed an “electoral fraud” as people in Spain did not vote for an amnesty, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the conservative People’s Party leader claims.
But Sánchez argues the amnesty will allow Spain to turn the page on the past.
People take part in a protest after Spain's socialists reached a deal with the Catalan separatist Junts party for government support
Reuters
On Wednesday, he told MPS: “In the name of Spain and its interests and in the defence of coexistence between Spaniards, we’re going to grant an amnesty to those people who are facing legal action over the [Catalan independence] process."
“This amnesty will benefit many people, political leaders whose ideas I do not share and whose actions I reject, but also hundreds of citizens who were swept up in the process.”
On Thursday protestors marked two weeks of nightly demonstrations outside the Socialist Party’s Madrid headquarters.
