Pérez Tremps, Pablo

Ruiz Almendral, Violeta

Name not available

Elections shake up Spain's federal system

e-Archivo (Univ. Carlos III de Madrid e-Archivo)

BY PABLO PÉREZ TREMPS AND VIOLETA RU IZ  ALMENDRALElections shake upSpain’s federal system Between March 11 and 14, Spain experienced the worstterrorist attack in its history, great confusion and politicaluncertainty in the days that followed and, finally, anunexpected — and unprecedented — electoral upset. In thegeneral elections, the voters rejected the government of JoséMaría Aznar (Partido Popular - PP-) and voted instead for agovernment led by José Zapatero’s socialists, the PartidoSocialista Obrero Español (PSOE).These facts have put a series of issues on the table that willkeep political scientists and jurists busy for quite sometime—aside from the fact that the country’s entire reserve oftranquilizers has been used up!The terrible attack perpetrated on March 11 received a greatdeal of attention in the international press. In many cases,the foreign press attributed the lossof confidence in Aznar’s partyalmost exclusively to the eventsthat had taken place only threedays prior to the election. But simple explanations are oftendeceptive. In reality, considering the usualbehaviour of voters in times ofcrisis—rallying around thegovernment and voting it back in—the effect was just the opposite, andin one of the largest electoral turnouts in recent Spanishhistory, democracy won. In the days following the attack,many citizens had the feeling that the Partido Populargovernment, led by José María Aznar, was not offeringtransparent and up-to-date information about the terroristorganization responsible for the attack. This situationcertainly influenced the massive participation in theelections on Sunday March 14 and the unexpected resultthat meant a parliamentary majority for a new coalition ledby the socialists.Changes in approach to federalismThe new government will mean changes in several areas ofSpanish social and economic life but most specifically infederal issues.The absolute majority that Aznar’s party had enjoyed from3March 2000 until the recent election allowed it to makedecisions of great political significance, often against theunited opposition of the rest of Congress. These decisionsincluded reforms to the penal code, the educational model,the tax system and lastly the controversial decision toparticipate in the war in Iraq.This way of governing alone, not counting onthe rest of the parties or social groups, has hada major effect in the way federalism in Spainhas worked. It is clear that for a multi-tiercountry to work a great deal of agreement andcooperation is needed. A federal system needsthat and transparency to work properly, andthis is where the Aznar Government appearedto fall short. In recent years, several AutonomousCommunities have demanded a higher level ofcontrol over their own affairs. To a large extent, these claimswere perceived by the former government as an attempt todestabilize and dismember the Spanish State. The maindisputes were between the central government and thenationalist parties in Catalonia and in the Basque country.But in the end conflicts emerged between Aznar’sgovernment and the rest of the parliamentary groups aswell.If the new socialist government remains faithful to itsplatform and to its intentions, this situation should changeand give way to more cooperative policy-making. In thisframework, demands for greater autonomy could be dealtwith without the Aznar government’s usual response thatthey were “unfaithful” to the Constitution.Spain: a federal country? Spain’s post-Franco Constitution of 1978 opened the countryto the possibility of building a highly decentralized state,granting certain territories the right to establish themselvesas Autonomous Communities, so that they could approvetheir own “constituent regulations” or Statutes of Autonomy(Estatutos de Autonomía), and assume substantialresponsibilities within the constitutional framework. ThisF e d e r a t i o n s Vol. 4, No. 2, July 2004Pablo Pérez Tremps is a professor of constitutional law at theUniversidad Carlos III in Madrid, Spain. Violeta Ruiz Almendralis a professor of finance law at the Universidad Carlos III. At thetime Federations went to press, Pablo Pérez Tremps was appointed toSpain's Constitutional Court as a judge.José Zapatero,Spain’s newPrime Minister.…the most importantchange that the newgovernment couldmake would beconstitutional reform4meant a sort of “a la carte” model of federalism which, at thetime, was fully accepted by the various political forces thatparticipated in drafting the Constitution.In the mid-eighties, notonly the territories thattraditionally hadrequested or enjoyed acertain autonomy in thepast (Catalonia, BasqueCountry, Navarra, Galicia)but the entire Spanishterritory was divided upinto AutonomousCommunities. Still, not allof the communitiesachieved the same level ofautonomy or authority. As a result, among the agreementsreached in 1992 were new transfers to communities of issuesthat “had been left behind” and a certain equalization in thelevels of autonomy.Consequently, the system is now somewhat moresymmetrical, although important differences persist. Themost notable difference is the recognition of languages otherthan Castilian Spanish and the greater powers that theBasque Country and Navarra exercise, due to their status as“historic” communities. One of the main ways in whichthese Communities have greater powers than the rest is intheir financial structure. They have far more power to taxand spend as they wish than the other Communities.Before the elections The first time Aznar’s party won the elections (1996), his lackof a parliamentary majority forced him to seek consensusand agreement on major issues. His principal ally at thattime was the Catalan government — controlled at the timeby the Catalan nationalist party, the "CiU". The collaborationbetween Aznar’s party and the CiU was a marriage ofconvenience, which is why it is not surprising that therelationship fell apart shortly after Aznar’s party obtained amajority in Parliament in 2000.That election marked the beginning of the mostconfrontational period in Spain since 1978, characterized byAznar’s highly centralist policies. Many disputes broke outbetween the nationalist communities and Aznar’sconservative government, with an escalation in rhetoric.Confrontation became the norm in Basque country in theface of radical Basque nationalism, which sometimesincluded support for terrorist activity. This support flaredup after the banning of the party that had traditionally actedas a political branch of the ETA terrorist group — HerriBatasuna or HB. Support for extreme Basque nationalismalso increased after the radical nationalist newspaper Garawas shut down because of its ties with the Basque terroristorganization. The confrontation was heightened in October2003 by the so-called “Ibarretxe Plan,” which would havegiven the region the status of “free association” with Spain.This plan challenged the constitutional status quo.In Catalonia, a confrontation broke out after the Aznargovernment refused to allow the reform of Catalonia’sStatute of Autonomy. The “Catalan Issue” was furthercomplicated following the regional elections of 2003 and theformation of a leftist coalition government that meant apolitical shut-out of Aznar’s party in Catalonia. Finally, the Community of Andalusia, governed since itscreation by the Socialists, also expressed the desire toreform its own statute, which again resulted inincreased confrontation, this time between Aznar’sparty and the socialists.In the last parliament in Madrid there was a climate oftension unprecedented in Spanish politics. The absolutemajority of Aznar’s party permitted the government toact alone, in what opponents perceived as arroganceand a policy of centralism. New perspectives for federalism?The arrival of the Socialists could mean the beginning of anew era for the development of decentralization in Spain. Inthe case of Basque Country, although the Socialists do notsupport the “Ibarretxe Plan,” they are willing to dialogue.The reforms of the statutes in Catalonia and in Andalusiacreate many uncertainties although with the support ofregional socialist governments they could be supported bythe new central Executive, which is also socialist. But the most important change that the new governmentcould make would be constitutional reform. In the finalyears of his government Aznar constantly defended theconstitution and insisted that it was impossible to reform it.Any proposal for constitutional reform was identified asunpatriotic. The new government has the opportunity toaddress the unfinished agenda of amending the constitutionto meet the needs of different regions of Spain.Constitutional reform Among the most pressing constitutional reforms cited by thesocialists is the reform of the Senate, to convert it to anauthentic congress with territorial representation. Such areform would not be simple. Although there is agreement onthe need for reform, there is no model to follow. An easierconstitutional task would be to implement a proposal to listall the Autonomous Communities of Spain, by name, in theconstitution.Alongside the proposed constitutional reforms, the newgovernment has proposed reforming the statutes of thecommunities. This could be seen as a way of integrating theregional debate into the building of a national consensus. Anidea which seemed to have been lost in recent years wasrecovered: that a plurality of political opinions can exist atthe same time as a consensus on the fundamental issues.Finally, the new President has announced the creation of aPermanent Conference of Presidents of AutonomousCommunities, which would meet regularly. If dialogue and cooperation are the basis of federalism it isonly possible to carry out reforms through continuous andproductive dialogue with all of the stakeholders. Thewillingness to dialogue is seen by many as the mostimportant change proposed by the new government. F e d e r a t i o n s Vol. 4, No. 2, July 2004…the new Presidenthas announced thecreation of aPermanent Conferenceof Presidents ofAutonomousCommunities

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Elections shake up Spain's federal system

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