The lawyers have said enough about the maneuvers of the PP and Vox to change dozens of laws in a single procedure

PalmChaos has erupted in the parliamentary process of the strategic projects law. The left has stood firm against the maneuvers of the PP and Vox parties to alter dozens of laws through amendments to the articles of this legislation. This action follows the advice of the Parliament's legal advisors, who have stated that enough is enough, as explained by parliamentary spokespeople at a press conference. It is common for parties to exchange amendments on other issues during the legislative process. Thus, They legislate on other issues through the back door.But on this occasion, the Parliament's legal services considered that the PP and Vox had gone too far. Amendments to a single law have been submitted that affect more than forty other laws and have nothing to do with the bill currently being processed. MÁS per Mallorca submitted a motion requesting the inadmissibility of these amendments, which the legal advisors supported, and PSIB deputy Patricia Gómez, who chairs the parliamentary committee handling them, halted them. Nevertheless, the PP parliamentary group has already confirmed to ARA Baleares that it will formally ask the Parliament's Bureau to reconsider its decision. In this case, a majority from the PP and Vox will be sufficient to reintroduce their amendments into the text. The spokesperson for the far-right parliamentary group, Manuela Cañadas, has already guaranteed this support. For its part, MÁS per Mallorca has stated that it will appeal the decision to the Constitutional Court.

Article 125 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure explains that amendments to bills must be related to their subject matter, and only with the unanimous agreement of the Bureau can an exception be made to introduce other amendments. However, in this legislative session, this exceptional procedure has become the norm. as the ARA Baleares already explainedIt wasn't until MÁS per Mallorca tried to put a stop to it, and the legal experts weighed in, that the groups began to reflect on the matter. In the case of the law on accelerating strategic projects, numerous unrelated issues have been introduced.

From tax cuts to the elimination of the Catalan language requirement for some teachers and public administration positions, to the creation of an Anti-Employment Office. The far right has even gone so far as to introduce issues so far removed from the purpose of the law as, for example, allowing military personnel to occupy positions in the local police forces or even to Castilianize place names. Meanwhile, the PP has taken advantage of the situation to carry out a profound reform of the Tax Agency of the Islands (ATIB) through this law. Specifically, in a letter addressed to the Parliament's Bureau, MÁS per Mallorca had raised the alarm and demanded that they not be admitted for processing.

The left-wing parties (PSIB, MÁS per Mallorca, Más per Menorca, and Unidas Podemos) had also submitted untimely amendments to this law. For example, because itApprove extraordinary measures to address the price increases resulting from the war in IranIn this case, MÁS considers them justified as a response to an unforeseen emergency situation. Furthermore, all these parties have stated their agreement to withdraw their amendments provided that those of the PP and Vox are also eliminated. In this regard, the eco-sovereignists have warned that there are three amendments from the PP and Vox that, moreover, affect rights enshrined in the Spanish Constitution and the Statute of Autonomy, and "violate the principle of non-retroversion of rights, which prevents the regression or loss of rights already acquired by citizens, in addition to guaranteeing the protection of rights approved since the restoration of self-government institutions." These are the language amendments, which establish the elimination of the Catalan language requirement for teachers in positions that are very difficult to fill and the elimination of the requirement for various basic job categories in the civil service, both for civil servants and other staff.

The spokesperson for MÁS per Mallorca, Lluís Apesteguia, has warned that if the amendments proposed by the PP and Vox parties are not stopped, they will take the matter to the Constitutional Court. "The exception cannot become the rule," he said. For his part, Josep Castells (Más per Menorca) said he will request a written report from the legal advisors to demonstrate that admitting these amendments will be "against their opinion." Meanwhile, José María García (Unidas Podemos) pointed out that "some parties have not submitted any amendments regarding the purpose of the law."

"Previously, these types of amendments were exceptional," argued PSIB deputy spokesperson Marc Pons. "This has become a situation where there are no limits whatsoever." He called for "listening to the legal experts' opinions": "You can't draft an entire law through an amendment." In fact, this practice makes it impossible for the opposition to oversee legislative activity, since amendments cannot be submitted to texts that are already amendments themselves. "This is a dynamic that the legal experts have identified as perverse," he criticized.

The PP challenges the left: "What will they challenge, if they too have submitted amendments?"

The PP's deputy spokesperson, Marga Duran, insisted that "this is not the first time amendments have been presented that are not directly related to the subject matter of the original text." She emphasized that both the PSIB and MÁS per Mallorca had also presented amendments that had "nothing to do" with the legislative text; they did so by modifying dozens of laws. "We decided to admit them for processing, and the PSIB decided to change its mind," she pointed out. The PP has insisted that they will admit the amendments for processing with Vox's support on the Parliament's Bureau, and has said that it "would not make sense" to challenge this in court. "The argument falls apart when they have also presented amendments on another topic," she argued: "What will they challenge?" Meanwhile, Vox spokesperson Manuela Cañadas simply stated that she will support the PP in passing all the presented amendments.