Spain's PP leader shocks party by backing conditional pardon for Carles Puigdemont

Source: The Guardian

Spain’s PP leader shocks party by backing conditional pardon for Carles Puigdemont

U-turn ‘stupefies’ conservative party, which has condemned amnesty for those involved in Catalan independence push

Stephen Burgen in Barcelona
Mon 12 Feb 2024 14.54 GMT
Last modified on Mon 12 Feb 2024 19.24 GMT

Members of Spain’s conservative People’s party say they are “stupefied” after their party leader announced he was in favour of granting a conditional pardon to former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont for his role in the illegal independence push in 2017.

Under the leadership of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the PP has consistently condemned Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, for offering an amnesty to Puigdemont and dozens of others involved in the independence movement in exchange for the votes of his party, Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia).

Since the amnesty was announced, the PP, along with the far-right Vox party, has organised dozens of demonstrations, several of them violent, against the plan.

There was considerable surprise, therefore, when Feijóo reportedly let slip during a meeting with Spanish journalists on Saturday that he supported giving Puigdemont a conditional pardon. While he later qualified his remarks, saying the conditions were not right at present, he said he believed “a conditional pardon” could be possible in the future.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/12/spains-pp-leader-shocks-party-by-backing-conditional-pardon-for-carles-puigdemont