In Braveheart, Mel Gibson’s epic film about William Wallace, there is a scene that mirrors what is happening currently in Spain. Wallace and his men attend a meeting to address the impending English attack, but the Scottish nobles bicker about absolutely everything. The meeting is nothing but a hopeless waste of time. In the end, Wallace and his men leave to face King Edward’s army. Wallace’s strong-armed lieutenant, Hamish, concludes that “it’s a nest of traitorous bastards, they wouldn’t agree on the colour of sh*t.” He was absolutely right, for despite the gravity of the situation, the nobles were content to take advantage of the situation in order to maintain their power.
Today, in the words of the president of the Partido Popular (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, an “attack on Spanish democracy” is taking place, led by a prime minister who “colludes with those who want to mutilate our nation.” He spoke these strong words on November 8th. However, after Sánchez was sworn in as president on November 16th, his tune changed. Now, the barons of the PP, with Feijóo at their head, are only concerned with maintaining their share of power and defusing the public response to the coup d’état.
This explains why Feijóo has criticised demonstrators in Ferraz, without raising any objection to excessive police force, which included arresting protesters for praying. In a few unfortunate statements, he pointed out that “there is much talk of amnesty, of independence, of debt forgiveness for the autonomous communities that have more money and what we should be talking about is more about prices, about how we can lower mortgages and how we can make ends meet.” In other words, the “attack on democracy” and “those who want to mutilate our nation” is no longer a pressing problem; we should talk about prices instead.
As there is no longer any need to resist amnesty for the separatists, Feijóo is free to reach agreements with Pedro Sánchez. After Feijóo signaled to the Socialist Party his willingness to “fight against male violence,” the PP created 31 parliamentary commissions—one of them against corruption and another to achieve the sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda—with the PSOE and Sumar. Like the Scottish nobles in Braveheart, PP leaders are already adapting to the new reality.
It is also very curious that the European People’s Party (EPP) leaders are generally much harsher on the rule of law situation in Spain than their Spanish colleagues. In order to justify PP’s inaction, their media lapdogs have pinned their hopes on the EU. However, unlike its response to conservative governments in Poland and Hungary, the European Commission seems reluctant to take action against Pedro Sánchez’s government.
Regardless, it is naive to think that Europe is going to get us out of the quagmire. This is a job that we Spaniards must do with our representatives on the front line. The greatest challenge is that, despite VOX’s requests, the Popular Party continues to refuse to use its majority in the Senate to oppose the amnesty law. They will not sit down with Santiago Abascal to coordinate a response to the coup d’état.
It is this same inaction and passivity that allowed corrupt politicians to carry out a coup d’état in 2017, which left the Catalans who did not allow themselves to be seduced or corrupted by separatist lies stranded. Spain’s current crisis is the consequence of the increasingly radical drift of the Socialist Party and the passivity, if not collaboration, of a Popular Party only concerned with the economic issues. The PP has surrendered to the entire political agenda of the Left.
On 28 November, VOX presented a reprobation against Pedro Sánchez in the Madrid city council. The PP, with an absolute majority, abstained. The Left’s votes carried the day and the motion was rejected. Javier Ortega Smith, the VOX spokesman in the city council, said that the PP is a “a party of laying hens.” He encouraged the Popular Party to “stop being hens and become roosters.” There is no justification for passivity right now. The Popular Party must decide if it wants to be useful to Spain or if it wants to continue eating crumbs from Sánchez’s plate.
A Hens’ Party
In Braveheart, Mel Gibson’s epic film about William Wallace, there is a scene that mirrors what is happening currently in Spain. Wallace and his men attend a meeting to address the impending English attack, but the Scottish nobles bicker about absolutely everything. The meeting is nothing but a hopeless waste of time. In the end, Wallace and his men leave to face King Edward’s army. Wallace’s strong-armed lieutenant, Hamish, concludes that “it’s a nest of traitorous bastards, they wouldn’t agree on the colour of sh*t.” He was absolutely right, for despite the gravity of the situation, the nobles were content to take advantage of the situation in order to maintain their power.
Today, in the words of the president of the Partido Popular (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, an “attack on Spanish democracy” is taking place, led by a prime minister who “colludes with those who want to mutilate our nation.” He spoke these strong words on November 8th. However, after Sánchez was sworn in as president on November 16th, his tune changed. Now, the barons of the PP, with Feijóo at their head, are only concerned with maintaining their share of power and defusing the public response to the coup d’état.
This explains why Feijóo has criticised demonstrators in Ferraz, without raising any objection to excessive police force, which included arresting protesters for praying. In a few unfortunate statements, he pointed out that “there is much talk of amnesty, of independence, of debt forgiveness for the autonomous communities that have more money and what we should be talking about is more about prices, about how we can lower mortgages and how we can make ends meet.” In other words, the “attack on democracy” and “those who want to mutilate our nation” is no longer a pressing problem; we should talk about prices instead.
As there is no longer any need to resist amnesty for the separatists, Feijóo is free to reach agreements with Pedro Sánchez. After Feijóo signaled to the Socialist Party his willingness to “fight against male violence,” the PP created 31 parliamentary commissions—one of them against corruption and another to achieve the sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda—with the PSOE and Sumar. Like the Scottish nobles in Braveheart, PP leaders are already adapting to the new reality.
It is also very curious that the European People’s Party (EPP) leaders are generally much harsher on the rule of law situation in Spain than their Spanish colleagues. In order to justify PP’s inaction, their media lapdogs have pinned their hopes on the EU. However, unlike its response to conservative governments in Poland and Hungary, the European Commission seems reluctant to take action against Pedro Sánchez’s government.
Regardless, it is naive to think that Europe is going to get us out of the quagmire. This is a job that we Spaniards must do with our representatives on the front line. The greatest challenge is that, despite VOX’s requests, the Popular Party continues to refuse to use its majority in the Senate to oppose the amnesty law. They will not sit down with Santiago Abascal to coordinate a response to the coup d’état.
It is this same inaction and passivity that allowed corrupt politicians to carry out a coup d’état in 2017, which left the Catalans who did not allow themselves to be seduced or corrupted by separatist lies stranded. Spain’s current crisis is the consequence of the increasingly radical drift of the Socialist Party and the passivity, if not collaboration, of a Popular Party only concerned with the economic issues. The PP has surrendered to the entire political agenda of the Left.
On 28 November, VOX presented a reprobation against Pedro Sánchez in the Madrid city council. The PP, with an absolute majority, abstained. The Left’s votes carried the day and the motion was rejected. Javier Ortega Smith, the VOX spokesman in the city council, said that the PP is a “a party of laying hens.” He encouraged the Popular Party to “stop being hens and become roosters.” There is no justification for passivity right now. The Popular Party must decide if it wants to be useful to Spain or if it wants to continue eating crumbs from Sánchez’s plate.
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