Word: franco
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...When Franco's demise had seemed imminent a week earlier, the transfer of power appeared to present no real problem. Within eight days of the dictator's death, Juan Carlos would have been named King by a joint declaration of the Cortes (parliament) and the 17-member advisory Council of the Realm. But for Juan Carlos to come to full and permanent power before Franco died would have required either 1) the dictator's resignation, or 2) a decree by the Cabinet, ratified by the Cortes and the National Council, stating that Franco was not competent...
Downstairs at El Pardo, a steady procession of Cabinet ministers, generals, leaders of the Movimiento National (the sole political party allowed), Roman Catholic churchmen and a few Latin American ambassadors arrived to inquire about Franco's health. Among the callers were exiled King Leka of Albania and Nicolas Franco, 37, the dictator's nephew. Young Franco later told TIME Correspondent Gavin Scott that he was hardly surprised by his uncle's durability. His own father, Franco's 85-year-old brother, suffered a similar illness four years ago and had been kept alive by drugs...
...hovered between life and death, government leaders were trying to head off complete political paralysis. Under the Spanish constitution, major decisions can be taken only by the Cabinet and only when the Chief of State presides; moreover, all decree laws must be signed by him to take effect. With Franco so gravely ill, the government was unsure whether it had clear-cut authority to make decisions-even on matters as pressing as the Sahara crisis. Said a government official last week: "We cannot go on without an active leader...
Thus the only alternative was a "temporary" transfer of power to Juan Carlos-maintaining the fiction that Franco retained ultimate authority and might even recover from his illness. The trouble with the plan was that Juan Carlos, at least at first, would have none of it. He had served in such a temporary capacity in mid-1974, when Franco was stricken with phlebitis and was expected to die or retire. When Franco returned to office after a mere 45 days of hospitalization and recuperation, he abruptly elbowed the Prince aside. Humiliated, Juan Carlos vowed that if a similar situation ever...
Late last week the Prince bowed to intense pressure from Arias and other top officials. Juan Carlos accepted the designation as Spain's temporary ruler when Arias invoked Article 11 of Spain's Organic Law and declared that Franco was currently unable to function in office "in view of the circumstance of illness." Observed a European diplomat in Madrid: "It seems that the Prince is accepting temporary powers in the knowledge that they are in fact permanent...