Pedro Sánchez calls for constitutional mandate to be complied with and to unblock renewal of institutions

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

In response to a question from the MP of the People's Parliamentary Group, Pablo Casado, Pedro Sánchez expressed in the Lower House his "absolute confidence" in the Second Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Social Rights and 2030 Agenda, Pablo Iglesias, and in the rest of the members of the government.

This government, he added "has no-one who has been charged, prosecuted or convicted".

The President of the Government also argued that defending the Constitution means respecting the legal presumption of innocence of all Spanish people as contained in its Article 24.2, and not blocking the renewal pending of the General Council of the Judiciary, the Constitutional Court and the Ombudsman.

Coalition government

As regards his assessment of the work of the coalition government, an issue raised by the MP from the Vox Parliamentary Group, Santiago Abascal, Pedro Sánchez stated that "considering this is the first time in the history of our democracy, it is working reasonably well".

The President of the Government underlined in his response the legitimacy of the government, which came out of the vote of the electorate and the support of MPs at the investiture session.

"This is a government legitimately elected by the people, and legitimately elected by this House. Let's see what support your vote of no confidence inspires next week", he declared.

Dialogue on Catalonia within framework of the law

The President of the Government reiterated the commitment he proposed in his investiture speech in favour of territorial dialogue, "among other questions to close off, once and for all, the political crisis in Catalonia", he claimed in his response to the MP from the Mixed Parliamentary Group, Mireia Vehí.

With this aim in mind, he explained, the government has set up a Dialogue Board and an Agenda for Rapprochement that is committed to social justice and equality among Catalans to overcome this dark era of confrontation among the people of Catalonia, and also between Catalonia and the rest of the country".

The President of the Government listed the five key elements of the Agenda for Rapprochement: it opens up a negotiation and dialogue process on the future of Catalonia; it avoids the judicialisation of politics; it promotes, following the approval of the Draft Bill on Democratic Memory, moral repair and the memory of the victims of the Civil War and of the dictatorship; it promotes through the Dialogue Board "political solutions within the framework of the law and respect for legal certainty", and reduces conflict between institutions.

"We are here to resolve the political conflict in Catalonia. Let's hope that the upcoming elections in Catalonia provide a good opportunity to move on to a new era that enjoys harmony, co-existence and rapprochement", stated Pedro Sánchez.

Non official translation