User:Scrawland Scribblescratch/Spain Crisis PMIII

The Great Spanish Crisis is a name given to the series of events in the early 1990s that began with disputed election results in the 1988 general elections and the subsequent constitutional crisis and violence that took place across the Spain. The Crisis had its roots in the government of Aaron Rocha (1975-79). Rocha, the leader of the Opposition in the last three years of the Trujillo Nationalist government, had become involved in a pre-existing group of Union Party officials who were connected to major Spanish corporations and financing groups. These groups had previously arranged the assassination of Prime Minister Jose Sabinas, and later murdered the Prince of Catalonia. Rocha and other Union leaders like Deputy Leader Julian Gomez began accepting bribes while in the Opposition, and the parties providing the bribes aided the Union Party in rigging the 1975 elections, leading to the Rocha government. Many members of the Rocha cabinet were later revealed to have been involved in the bribery, as well as major Union and even some Moderate MPs. However, the Rocha government was extremely unpopular, and the Union Party was forced from power by a motion of no confidence in 1979. The elections that followed produced incredibly mixed results, and none of the three major parties held a majority in Parliament. Eventually, the Moderates formed a coalition government with many of the minor parties and Ildefonso Andesa became the Prime Minister. This coalition lasted two years before it collapsed, but many of the minor parties in the coalition eventually formed the People's Front. Andesa was then ousted by a clear Nationalist victory that led to a seven year government under Lucian Aquino. During the Aquino government, the Union Party took great measures to attempt to regain power. The Union Party officials began spying on Aquino and his cabinet by bugging their residences and meeting places and breaking into their communications. These actions continued even during the Rey government from 1988 to 1990. The 1988 elections produced bad results. The Nationalists had a slight majority of votes, but the Union Party had won more seats in Parliament. Eventually, the Union Party won out and Jaime Rey became the Prime Minister. Rey was initially unaware of the things other members of his party were involved him. Not longer after the beginning of the Union government, labor strikes began across the country after the budget measures previously put in place by the Aquino government were reversed in Parliament. The 1988 strikes ended when Rey met with major union leaders and reached an agreement. However, this agreement was unsatisfactory to both workers and Parliament. Eventually, Rey went back on his promises to the Union leaders and returned to the Union policy. It was at this time that he was introduced to the massive conspiracy inside his party. The Treasury Secretary, Matias Rios, also began diverting money out of the treasury and into Union hands or to their supporters. Other examples of corruption in the Rey cabinet included Chief of Transportation Wilfredo Gallego, who shot down a plan to make long awaited reforms and updates to the national railway system at the behest of the Prime Minister, who was operating on the behalf of Union allies involved in roads. Foreign Secretary of State Guiomar Santana also failed to provide Spanish backing to the Imperial Federation resolutions of 1988, again on orders from Prime Minister Rey and in collusion with Matias Rios, preventing Spain from joining Federation programs that were dead in the war without Spanish support. In 1989, the Union Party's activities of spying on the opposition were discovered. At first, it was only connected to a few Union MPs, but it soon spread as far as President of the Congress, Katalin Abarca, who promptly resigned. Initially, Rey did not respond to it, but as conspirators were revealed higher and higher in the government, Rey tasked Attorney General Wazid Ali and EIEIO Director Urbano Sinarra with investigating the matter on behalf of the government. When Abarca's involvement was exposed, the Opposition became furious and a motion of no confidence was introduced in the Assembly. However, it failed to make it through Congress, at which point people began calling for the dissolution of Parliament. In late 1989, Rey approached the King and asked him to dissolve Parliament and call for new elections, which the King refused, knowing that this would absolve many potential criminals from facing justice. Attorney General Wazid Ali and EIEIO began introducing more crimes committed by government officials, resulting Union MPs resigning en masse, as well as some Moderates and Nationalists. Supreme Court Justices nominated by Rocha and Rey also came under fire, and seven of the presiding 13 justices resigned, including Chief Justice Alfonso Beria. This called attention to the Lord Justiciar, Jacinta Marquez, who became the first member of the Rey cabinet to resign, followed by Imelda Loyola, Wilfredo Gallego, and eventually Chancellor of the Assembly, Francesco Sarta. This meant that neither house of Parliament had a leader, and in the Assembly, Alberto Scrawlando assumed the title of Acting Chancellor and Reyna Mendoza became Acting President of the Congress, both acting under His Majesty's Authority. In 1990, EIEIO revealed the crimes committed by Guiomar Santana, Matias Rios, and finally the Prime Minister himself. The King then immediately dismissed the Prime Minister, but this did not dissolve the Parliament due to the body being in flux and therefore not legally actionable. This left the position of the head of government empty, and neither of the Acting heads could legally assume the title of Prime Minister. Instead, Scrawlando and Mendoza agreed that this was an "extreme circumstance" as specified in Clause 6 of Article IV of the Constitution, which vested government power in the King in the absence of "capable and suitable candidates". The absence of a higher government and the poor state of the administration, combined with the poor economy left behind by Rey, resulted in the beginning of riots everywhere, starting in Valencia and Toledo and then spreading to the other cities. Martial law began to be declared in many locations by the beginning of September, and on 29 November, it took effect nationwide, followed by the immediate dissolution of Parliament despite a dubious legal basis. Attorney General Ali argued before the Supreme Court the next day, stating that the emergency elections held in some constituencies meant that Parliament was now allowed to dissolve itself, as the King and Prime Minister had become a singular unit. This was generally accepted as utter nonsense, but the Supreme Court and the Federal Capital Zone Court were not allowed to act on it, due to the depleted state of the Supreme Court and the low level of the Capital Court. Due to the martial law, people arrested in connection to the scandal (such as MPs, Union Party allies, financiers, and Cabinet members) were placed in the hands of the Army and were technically supposed to be tried in a military tribune. However, this did not happen, due to the formation of the Regency Council, which was made up of the King's Cabinet of 6, as well as new Union Party leader Oliver Castillo, and two Generals and an Admiral. As the year 1991 began, Spain remained under martial law. People who had fled the country due to their new status as a criminal began to be extradited back into Spain. As the year progressed, the Council began to take absolute authority due to the lack of any force of opposition. MPs who had not been part of the scandal (mainly those from minor parties as well as the Moderate Party) began to form the People's Front. The Front was against the Council and called for elections. Throughout 1991, the Council continued to arrest people who were connected to a multitude of crimes: embezzlement, theft, fraud, murder, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit fraud, electoral fraud, perjury, money laundering, accepting bribes, and others. Jaime Rey was not captured until October of 1991, but he was killed shortly after pleading guilty to all charges. At the end of the year, the Council announced its plans for the future of Spain. Despite the King's original wishes to have Alberto Scrawlando head up a new temporary government until elections were held, the Council would remain in place until nationwide elections were held in 1992. All three major parties fared poorly in the elections, and the newly united People's Front seized power. Front leader Duarte Rigas became Prime Minister, ending the Regency and restoring normalcy to Spain. Rigas' first act was to appoint new justices to the Supreme Court in order to begin trying the criminals. He then dismissed the Rey remainder cabinet (Wazid Ali, War Minister Aritza, and Space Director Abana). Ali, Alberto Scrawlando, and Reyna Mendoza were then arrested for perpetuating the Regency Council, which had been deemed illegal. Rigas immediately pardoned all three of them and the charges were dropped. He also protected the Regency Generals and the Admiral before forming his own Cabinet. The Rigas government was reelected in 1997 and the Front remained in power until 2002, when they were replaced by the Nationalists under Juan Scrawlando IV. The Crisis is generally accepted to have ended with the beginning of the Rigas government. The Rey cabinet members were all given life sentences, as well as many major MPs, while others got off with less severe penalties. The Union Party was destroyed as a result of its actions and eventually morphed into what is today the Union Socialist Party, with only 2 seats in Parliament after the 2013 elections. The Crisis exposed the terrible inner workings of the government and reduced the faith of the people in elected officials. It shook Spain to the core and was the greatest test the nation ever faced, even greater than the Great War.