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Felipe González, José María Aznar and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero at the event.
Former PMs line up to discuss Spain's constitution at Vocento forum

Former PMs line up to discuss Spain's constitution at Vocento forum

To mark 15 years of Vocento, publishers of SUR in English, three ex-heads of government came together in a rare show of unity

ramón gorriarán

Friday, 7 July 2017, 18:01

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All three living former prime ministers of Spain spoke together at a public meeting for the first time on Wednesday. The forum at which they were special guests was organised by the parent company of SURin English, Vocento, which is marking fifteen years this year. The theme of the event was Forty years of democracy, following last months anniversary of the first general election after General Francos dictatorship ended in 1977.

Felipe González (PSOE), José María Aznar (PP) and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (PSOE) dont normally see eye to eye on many things, so it was particularly significant that the three men sat together at the Vocento event and jointly defended the power of political dialogue and the Spanish constitution.

Referring frequently to plans by the regional government in Catalonia to hold an illegal independence referendum, all agreed that the solution to the Catalonian question was political dialogue. All three ex- national leaders shared the view that Catalonian independence wouldnt happen, but there was disagreement over the effectiveness of any constitutional reform.

Felipe González, prime minister from 1982 to 1996, said that consideration should be given to reforming the Spanish constitution to address Catalonian national concerns. In contrast, his two successors, Aznar and Rodríguez Zapatero, said they were against. González proposes a commission to review the document, but Aznar said that first Spain had to work out what it wanted changing.

Rodríguez Zapatero added that people shouldnt get their hopes up over what a constitutional reform might do to calm nationalist sentiment, a veiled comment aimed at the new leader of the PSOE, Pedro Sánchez, who has said he is in favour of modifying the constitution.

While González and Zapatero called for shared dialogue with pro-independence politicians, Aznar appeared to suggest that a way forward was to build an anti-independence political coalition in the Catalonian regional parliament.

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