The Spanish Constitution turned 45 years old amid great political instability

USPA NEWS - On December 6, 1978, the Spanish people approved the eighth Constitution in their history in a referendum. This year, that text turned 45 years old and it did so at a time of great political instability with pro-independence parties that do not recognize it as a fundamental law of the State and parties that want to reform it to allow Spain to be dismembered. This political division was reflected on Wednesday in the commemorative events of the anniversary of the Constitution, when no Basque, Catalan or Galician nationalist or independence party attended the institutional events held in the Spanish Parliament.

The Spanish political system is in crisis. For years, unless a party obtains an absolute majority at the polls, in this country the one who gets the most support governs, which means that parties that have lost the elections are brought to power. And many Spaniards wonder what their votes are for, if winning the elections does not guarantee that the winner will govern. This is what is happening in Spain at the moment: the Socialist Party of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez came second in the elections held on July 23, but its association with the extreme left, the Basque and Catalan nationalists, and the independence parties, allows it govern to the detriment of the winner of the elections.

The support of nationalists and independentists is interested: in exchange for supporting the Government, they demand amnesty for all those convicted of the 2017 secessionist attempt in Catalonia and all those accused of the disorders registered in the streets, and the holding of a binding referendum on the independence of Catalonia and, later, on the independence of the Basque Country. The Amnesty Law has begun its processing in Parliament under the conservative threat of being appealed before the Constitutional Court. The Spanish political right claims that amnesty is not allowed in the 1978 Constitution.

The credibility of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is minimal, after the numerous changes of opinion and the successive denials of his own words that Sanchez has carried out in the five years that he has led the Spanish Government. Aware of this, the Catalan independentists have already warned that, if the Spanish Government does not fulfill the commitments made during the negotiation for the investiture of Pedro Sanchez, they will not only vote against its laws but will support a motion of censure eventually presented by the opposition parties.

And meanwhile, the Spanish Constitution turned 45 years old on Wednesday. Almost half a century in force in which it has facilitated the democratic consolidation of Spain, has defended equality among Spaniards and has contained the aspirations of those who have sought to exceed its limits. However, everyone agrees that the Spanish Constitution has never been so threatened like today. In this situation, the fundamental law of the State needs a strong Government to defend it and institutions to reinforce it. But the Spanish Government is weak and the State institutions have been colonized by the Socialist Party with the intention of using them for their benefit. The future of the 1978 Spanish Constitution is unclear.