Franco Regime: 1966 Organic Law of the State Referendum

Article 6 — Organic Law of the State (BOE, 10 Jan 1967)

Article 6 of the Organic Law of the State (BOE of 10 January 1967). Text nine.

Together, we can consider the Franco regime as a constitutional dictatorship. Franco, not having a constitution as a fundamental norm of the state, resorted to the procedure of making laws, which were drafted according to current needs. During the Civil War, lawmaking developed outside normal channels. Back in the 1940s, others were written such as the Law of Courts, the Jurisdiction of the Spanish, the Referendum Law, and the Law of Succession to the Head of State. In 1958 the Act of the Fundamental Principles of the Movement was issued.

Despite this body of law, the legal apparatus of the system was incomplete. So in November 1966, Franco appeared before the courts to present what was to be the final law. The courts of the time were not representative; they were only an echo chamber of the regime. They cheered wildly the proposal of the Leader, which was subjected to a national referendum on 14 December that year.

The Organic Law of the State was issued when Spain was in the full developmental stage of the sixties, as a result of the implementation of the Stabilization Plan of 1959. The law reveals how little progress had been made toward a constitutional regime.

Concentration of Power and Undemocratic Provisions

The law resulted in the highest concentration of power that any leader in Spain has held. It is an undemocratic law because:

• It does not recognize the right of representation. The Head of State is the supreme representative.
• It does not recognize national sovereignty or the right of the people; the Head of State personifies the nation.
• It does not recognize the possibility of political representation.
• There is no effective principle of separation of powers: the Head of State sanctions and promulgates laws and oversees their implementation. He exercises supreme political and administrative power and, in his name, justice is administered. There is therefore little separation of powers. The regime controlled much of the appointment of judges and courts, which were not representative and had little ability to debate.

For the referendum on 14 December 1966, the opposition was not allowed to participate. No wonder that, in their helplessness, some clandestine posters were produced that read:

'If you vote yes, you will vote for Franco. If you vote no, you will vote for Franco. If you do not vote, they will vote for you, but you will not vote. NO VOTES.'

The result of that referendum was, as in all authoritarian regimes, overwhelmingly in favor of the regime.