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The Spanish Prime Minister, Mr. Pedro Sánchez, announced the first series of policies of his so-called “democratic regeneration” strategy, a comprehensive revision of the current regulatory framework of the media and industries like public affairs consulting (lobbies).
Sánchez presented his plan in the margins of this year’s United Nations General Assembly in New York City, a week after his Council of Ministers approved the first of a series of reforms.
The premier said in New York that “never before have so many people been exposed to lies and misinformation.”
He added that “transparency in digital media is essential; citizens need to know who owns the media outlets.”
In addition to new oversight over media outlets, Sánchez’s democratic regeneration aims to change laws that lay out the governance of both the Legislative and the Judicial branch.
Sánchez is currently feuding with the court system over a prosecution of his wife, Ms. Begoña Gómez, by a Madrid court for alleged influence peddling.
The Council of Ministers approved the creation of the first of many “Plans of Action for Democracy”.
Félix Bolaños–Sánchez’s Minister of the Premiership, Justice, and Relations with the Legislative–explained that the Plan includes 31 measures to be executed over the next three years of the legislative term.
The first Plan has three goals. First, to expand and improve the quality of government information, aimed at the Government, i.e., the executive branch.
Second, to strengthen the transparency and plurality of the media.
Finally, to reinforce the transparency of the Spanish Parliament, the Senate, and Spain’s electoral system.
Bolaños added that this Plan does not differ from the regulations or plans that the European Union has already implemented.
However, he added that the reform will modify two Organic Laws, i.e., laws related to the organising structure of the State and to the development of fundamental rights and public liberties.
On the one hand, the Plan will modify the Organic Law regulating the so-called “Right to Honor” and the Organic Law regulating the “Right to Rectification.”
These reforms aim to make processes with the Spanish Justice more agile so that courts can issue rulings more quickly against defamations made in the media or what the premier has labeled “pseudo-media”.
The Socialist-led plan received the backing of its coalition partners from the progressive Sumar party.
Sumar, a coalition of parties itself, includes self-proclaimed communists.
According to the government, the plan will help citizens “regain confidence” in public institutions.
The democratic regeneration strategy is also set to revise regulation governing the media, potentially including new means of content moderation.
This element of the Plan has irked the centre-right and Conservative opposition to the governing socialist-communist consensus.
The leader of the People’s Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo even compared Sánchez to Francisco Franco, Spain’s dictator who governed Spain for over 30 years.
According to the PP, Sánchez’s plan is a means of executing a “censorship and persecution” campaign against government critics and dissenting opinions.
Conservative leader Santiago Abascal from the VOX Party said “Sánchez has lied its way to power.”
Referencing the corruption scandals around Sánchez’s wife, Abascal added that “the most corrupt government in the history of democracy cannot talk about democratic quality.”
“You have bought all the media in the country but want to shut down the outlets that talk about your wife,” said Abascal.
Pedro Sánchez’s brother, David Sánchez, is also being investigated for alleged corruption and crimes against the Treasury and the Social Security System.
The European Union has not yet made any comments on Sánchez’s democratic regeneration strategy.
Pressure on Brussels is mounting, given that—according to the opposition—the plan is set to provide the Executive branch with larger control over other powers of the State and the media, in the likes of dictatorships like Venezuela and Nicaragua.