When this Thursday I heard the prime minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, affirming on public television that lawfare exists in the Spanish justice system, I couldn't help but remember that line from The Godfather that goes "I don't feel I have to wipe everybody out... just my enemies". Making an accusation, even if it's only veiled, of abuse of authority by members of the Spanish judiciary, from the head of the executive, is enormously grave in institutional terms. The fact that he places it more in the era of the People's Party (PP) than under his own mandates does not diminish the seriousness of the accusation, among other things because the judges remain the same. The institutional war between the executive and judicial branches of power continues to escalate and it seems that we are very far from the last battle. one can only surmise what might end up happening while the right lines up its defensive batteries in an orderly manner under the premise of Aznar's FAES foundation: anyone able to speak up, let them speak up; anybody capable of doing something, let them do it; anyone who can contribute, let them contribute and anyone who can make a move, let them move.
Sánchez's words have been far surpassed by three surprising actions taken in the judicial sphere. The first, the judicial governance body, the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), has refused to give its confidence to the chief public prosecutor, Álvaro García Ortiz. It is the first time in history that this has happened but the vote is not binding either. It does, however, have enormous importance, and not so much because of the unsuitability of the chief prosecutor, but because - if there were doubts - the war has bubbled to the surface. Spanish democracy has never experienced a gesture like this, with so much hostility, given that, in addition, we are talking about a sudden loss of credentials for the post, since in July 2022, 16 months ago, García Ortiz was considered a suitable candidate by the same members of the CGPJ, by twelve votes in favour and seven against. What lies behind it is not suitability at all but politics.
Almost at the same time, the Supreme Court annulled the appointment of former Spanish labour minister Magdalena Valerio as president of the Council of State, the government's highest consultative council, arguing that she did not meet the legal requirement of a "jurist of recognized prestige." The court's administrative disputes chamber decided this unanimously and, thus, the Supreme Court has now overthrown a third appointment made by the Pedro Sánchez government. The same thing had previously happened with Dolores Delgado as the new specialist prosecutor for its chamber of Democratic Memory room and as prosecutor for minors. There are many ways to express displeasure and opposition, and this is the most visible.
There it is: the unstoppable advance of the insurrectional movement against the legislative and executive powers
The icing on the cake this Thursday was the gathering set up in Congress by the PP at which three former Constitutional Court judges positioned themselves against the proposed amnesty law. Specifically, former court president Francisco Pérez de los Cobos and judges Jorge Rodríguez Zapata and Andres Ollero. For almost two hours, the event was an invitation to disregard laws, with ideas that would be dangerous if they were actually put into practice. How else should one read statements like: "We have to defend the right to resistance with all means at our disposal: demonstrations, boycotts or non-compliance with laws when others do not comply with them." And this: "Today I have decided not to remain silent because as a citizen I have the obligation to speak out on a situation that I consider extremely worrying and that also challenges me in relation to the exercise of the functions of interpretation and defence of the Constitution that I have exercised and when, if the amnesty law is approved, it could mean the end of the Constitution".
The accumulation of news stories all pointing in the same direction often makes it impossible to see the wood for the trees. But there it is. And there it is also, the unstoppable advance of the insurrectional movement against the legislative and executive powers.