The Investiture

 The debate and probable approval of Pedro Sanchez as president is upon us. I'm in the USA right now, but the wonders of the Internet put me as close to the action as if I were sitting in the public gallery of the parliamentary chamber. 

It's been a long road to get this far. The local and regional elections of last May were disappointing for the Government and consequently, national elections were called with what turned out to be ambiguous results. The PP won the most seats, but not enough - even with their far-right Vox allies - to take the house. The PP leader Feijoo tried in the two-day debate in late September, but fell short by a tiny margin. Now comes the chance for Pedro Sanchez (sorry, there are no accents on this keyboard). 

To get this far, Sanchez had to court a number of small parties - including the regionalist ones.  One of these is the Junts per Catalunya, with its erstwhile leader Carles Puigdemont living in exile in Belgium, fearful of capture and imprisonment (like some of his associates) after the illegal referendum for independence in 2017. Sanchez needed the Junts, and the price, now agreed, was an amnesty (it will affect around 400 people in all). Some consider this as a coup d'etat, but it is better to think of it as a solution to the Catalonian unrest, which has lasted over a number of years.

The PP (which could have avoided this if it considered the interests of the country over its own) called for massive protests across Spain during the ten days running up to the investiture. This naturally attracted the Vox and other unsavoury groups - sundry fascists, the Desokupa folk, Fake-news experts, the right-wing media, anti-abortionists and other religious nutters and, for some reason, the appalling American broadcaster Tucker Carlson (tipped in some circles as Trump's running mate). Then there are the Youtubers and other keyboard warriors working their nefarious magic from home. 

Outside the PSOE offices in Calle Ferraz in Madrid, the protests have been particularly colourful. Signs such as 'Sanchez: Spain isn't for Sale'. 

We should remember the number of public companies sold to private interests (or even vulture funds) by the PP in past times (such as Telefonica, Antena3, Repsol, Endesa, Aena, Gas Natural, Iberia...). Of course, as we see these protesters wrapped in their Spanish flags, or singing Cara al Sol, we are reminded that there's more to patriotism than just hating the Catalonians.

The point is, that the PSOE and its allies have the majority and are thus equipped to run the country.  Spain has been without a government since the elections this August. It's time this was resolved. Feijoo can't continue to call for fresh elections over and again until his alliance wins enough seats.