The New Spain - Constitutional Referendum (1987)

[Lumine]

₁

It's been fifty-six years since the Republican Constitution of 1931

January 1987

Guerra and Calvo-Sotelo have gone full steam ahead,
but can they surpass the final obstacle?

CONTEXT: The formation of the "unity government" of PSE, PP and UCD left Alfonso Guerra with an unwieldly parliamentary behemoth: too diverse to avoid wounding splits on every issue and vote, and yet too powerful for the government to ever seriously contemplate defeat. This, in turn, bred new ambitions not just in the already ambitious Guerra, but also on the usually quiet Calvo-Sotelo, who figured - unlike the malcontents in the PP hard-right - that by playing second fiddle to the Socialists he might get far more stuff accomplished than Areilza in his time. Just like in 79', the incumbent government decided to marginalize those deemed a lost cause: neither Carlists nor Communists would partake in the text, and taking it a step further, neither would the nationalists after walking out from the talks.

In the end, the proposed text of the Spanish Constitution of 1987 retained the bulk of the 1979 text while adding some elements from the old Second Republic; and a few innovations to address the instability of the past decade. Most noteworthy additions included:

-The declaration of Spain as a "social and democratic Republic under the rule of law".

-A mostly ceremonial Presidency (closely resembling Italy), elected by the Cortes every 7 years, with Parliament retaining most of the power.

-Restrictions on the power of the regions, including a safeguard against acts that breach the Constitution.

-The abolition of mandatory military service.

-Turning the Senate into a half-directly elected, half-region appointed chamber only tasked with reviewing laws.

-Electoral reform, expanding the Cortes to 400 seats and introducing mixed-member proportional representation (200 FPTP seats, 200 elected by PR with a 3% regional cut-off).

-Constitutional Amendments requiring 3/5ths of both houses, and allowing the impeachment of the President by 2/3rds of the Cortes.

-The nationalization of the bulk of the "Heritage of the Crown" (royal property) as public property, with compensation for the now deposed royals.

The Campaign:

YES: The government is going all the way to promote the new Constitution, trying to sell as "an end to the instability" that has seemingly plagued Spain since the start of the Transition. For the most part, Guerra upholds it as a Republican document that will prevent abuse of power, preserve the unity of the nation, and finally enable "decisive reform" in Spain, retaining the social advances made under the 1979 text. Calvo-Sotelo in turn describes it as the best way to achieve "political and economic sanity", and Suárez champions his pet issue of ending mandatory military service. Aside from the government parties, a faction of the near-defunct PLD has come out in favor, as well as Acting President Areilza.

NO: In turn, the left-wing opposition (Carlists and Communists) have come out strongly against the proposal, calling it "regressive" and "a betrayal of the Republican spirit". Whereas the Communists resent the seemingly bourgeois nature of the new Republic and demand the expulsion of the Royals; the Carlists bemoan the ceremonial indirectly-elected Presidency, clamoring for a strong, directly elected head of state. Almost all the nationalist parties have also come out strongly against, criticizing the introduction of "safeguards" against the regions as undermining federalism, and calling Guerra a "centralist tyrant". The bulk of PLD, Tamames' Ecosocialist group, and the - still banned - Francoist far-right have also joined the NO side.

Two days.

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^{1.) Original Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Republica2-Constitucion.jpg}

[Antonio the Sixth]

Heck yes! Let's make the Republic a reality.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

No

[RGM2609]

No! Let's make Spain a true socialist republic, no more compromises!

[Antonio the Sixth]

No! Let's make Spain a true socialist republic, no more compromises!

Exactly the kind of maximalist intra-leftist squabbling that doomed the Second Republic.

Don't let history repeat itself, compañeros!

[ReallySuper]

this is precisely the kind of capitulatory, right-wing, royalist, anti-democratic nonsense that our compañeras y compañeros have been struggling to overthrow since the liberals, sellouts and class traitors doomed genuine democracy in this country half a century ago. torpe burgués: ¡atrás, atrás!

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

Yes in the end, it’s not perfect, but it’s surprisingly good for a constitution that had to be crafted with the PP.

[VPH]

No

[PPT Spiral]

Nay to the half-baked constitution!

[certified hummus supporter 🇵🇸🤝🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦]

No

[Lumine]

1987 Constitutional Referendum:

YES: 57.6%
NO: 42.4%

Republican flags were being enthusiastically waved at the PSOE HQ in Ferraz and, less passionately so, at the PP HQ at Genova street. Although the margin was narrower than the already controversial 1979 Constitutional referendum, the numbers were roughly equal to the voters who had backed the government parties last year, a result that made sense in light of the conscious decision not to include the hard-left in the constituent process. It had not been an easy campaign, particularly after a number of popular, high profile figures questioned - in pure populist fashion - the merits of being mired in a debate over the specifics of the Republic while millions despaired of finding a job.

In the end, the government parties were able to leave their intense disagreements - internally and with each other - for a moment to focus on defending the text, selling it not just as delivering on the commitment to formalize the Republic; but also as the way to address the intense deadlock that had been plaguing Spanish politics for the past decade. Suárez's old electoral system was thus buried with the strong support of its own maker, who no longer had any use for mechanisms built when the UCD had been on its brief heyday. Guerra was ecstatic, having prevailed yet again and starting to dream of political invincibility. And Calvo-Sotelo and Areilza, both monarchists, at least felt they had averted the sort of revolutionary Republic that plagued their nightmares since the Santiago-Milans coup in 78'.

The Constitution was thus settled. Needing to elect a first full President soon, Alfonso Guerra prepared for dissolution of the Cortes and a new electoral contest.