“The Spanish government is aware of the great challenges facing the country and [PSOE y Unidas Podemos] We are going to continue working hand in hand, starting with the negotiation of the general state budget”. With this short statement, the two partners of the executive branch held a meeting last Monday, which the President of the Government Pedro Sánchez and the second vice. The President held on the same day and the coordinator of ministers of United We Can, Yolanda Diaz , a meeting which, they noted, was very “positive” and “fruitful” and served to “strengthen the coalition”.
With the right surging in all polls, the coalition has been struggling for weeks to cement its unity despite differences they maintain on relevant issues such as rising military spending, the monarchy and this week’s deadline for officials to be classified. secrets. In order to maintain this cohesive image in the face of a difficult final leg of the legislature marked by the energy crisis and inflation, Sánchez and DÃaz decided to postpone a meeting of the coalition monitoring commission that was due to take place. Held before the end of the political term.
The meeting was requested by the second vice-president at the beginning of July, at one of the most critical moments of the coalition and in the same week that he wanted to mark his own profile, which coincided with the presentation of the platform summary. through which he will go through a “listening process” after which he will decide whether to stand as a candidate in the upcoming general elections. But, for several weeks, both sides postponed this meeting. sine die — likely to take place in September, after the summer break, executive sources say — largely because of the leftward turn Sanchez has made in the state-of-the-nation debate and announced so many. About measures proposed by United We Can, which the group hopes will turn into “facts”. In this context, Sánchez and DÃaz limited themselves to holding last Monday, which coincided with the last Council of Ministers of the Political Course, a meeting whose content, duration or any image did not go beyond.
PSOE and United We can now try to cancel the differences in the executive, which the right wing has repeatedly used to undermine the government and value the agreements. They note that the latter allowed the spokesmen of both parties in Congress, the Socialist Party’s Patix Lopez and the Confederate Group’s Pablo Echenik, to jointly present a legislative initiative containing new banking and banking taxes. Big energy companies. But they also remember that during the legislature they agreed to approve two budgets, labor reform, a new educational framework, social shields and anti-crisis measures or new rights such as euthanasia or trans law, even though the partners maintained different positions in principle.
Disagreements remain on issues such as military spending, the state model, fiscal policy or housing, in the next period of sessions, as Sánchez himself, must approve a law dealing with the latter issue – which is included in the coalition agreement. He promised in his last parliamentary intervention. A new difference can also be seen in the past week, after the draft of the Ministry of the Presidency on the new law on official secrets, which was approved in the first round by the Council of Ministers on Monday.
Vice-President DÃaz then acted in the executive branch as coordinator of the space of United We Can and moved to the ministry led by Felix Bolaños – from the socialist wing – his “inconsistency” with the bill that official secrets can remain for more than 50 years. years. This term, they note from the confederation group, seems “too much” to DÃaz, the Minister of Social Rights and Podemos leader Ione Bellara and the rest of the United We Can ministers. All of them also believe that the president did not take into account that the rule must be approved later in Congress, because the common partners and, especially, the PNV, demanded a reduction of this period to at least 25, so the confederation group appreciates. With today’s proposal of the executive power, it would not have the necessary parliamentary support to implement the norm.
However, we can remember that what the Council of Ministers has approved is the “first round” of the law and that what they have agreed with the PSOE is an “agreement on non-compliance” regarding the timing of the classification of negotiations. Second circle of text. “Spain is a democratic country that should not be afraid to learn about its past,” said sources from the confederation group, who denounced that, as currently worded, the new law does not serve to declassify documents from the dictatorship or the transition period. , such as attempted subversion of 23F or GAL abuse, among other things.
Sanchez spoke about the disagreement on Tuesday in his last public appearance before going on holiday in Lanzarote. From Palma, where he held his usual summer meeting with the king at the latter’s summer residence, the chief executive was keen to stress that “it is important that the pre-democratic law is reformed”. The government, he said, is “committed to democratic revival” and recalled that the current law on this issue “is from 1968, it is pre-democratic, from the dictatorship”. As for the term, the CEO believes that “50 years may seem like a lot, but there are countries that have 70 years or 20 years with unlimited extensions.” However, he noted that a “debate that can strengthen democracy” will now be opened with the groups as well as United We Can to reach a consensus text.
Other issues such as the migration crisis, the monarchy or military spending are on the coalition’s table of contention. It was this last issue that prompted Yolanda DÃaz to ask her PSOE partners for a commission meeting in early July to monitor the coalition agreement, which was postponed without a date. The Vice President was very upset with the action of the majority government group and complained that they did not inform United We Can of some of their recent statements, such as the increase in military spending, the inclusion of the Sahara and his congratulations to Morocco. The actions of the gendarmes at the Melilla fence at the weekend, when 37 people were killed.
Furthermore, in the first action of Sumar, which gathered more than 5,000 people in Madrid on July 8, DÃaz wanted to show a clearly more progressive profile than the PSOE. That weekend, in an interview Country, They were convinced that “the government lacks a soul”. He meant the second wing of the coalition. With these words, he wanted to condemn that until that moment there was no clear left-wing tendency on the part of the Council of Ministers, which United We Can have been asking for months, the minority partner of the executive power and the political space that he himself coordinates and which already considers him your candidate.
Before the date for the meeting could be set, everything changed when Sánchez delivered the opening State of the Nation address, confirming this shift to the left and announcing exactly what DÃaz had called for in Summar’s first act: new taxes. Some of the strongest sectors, such as energy companies and banks. Although the vice-president wanted “more” and on the same day he demanded another new tribute to big companies, his team also insisted on these and other measures announced by the president of the government – such as the full subsidy of Renfe transport. The passes, from CercanÃas and Media Distancia – bore the United We Can stamp, although Sánchez also did not let the minority partner know where he intended his statements to go.
The CEO’s speech narrowed the space for DÃaz in his attempt to challenge the PSOE to the right of his political project and attract socialist voters to his listening process, first and when the candidacy consumes all the space they get. Allowed to encourage them to get their vote. Diaz’s tone actually changed after the state of the nation debate: “The government has a long horizon and a certain course. First of all, he has a commitment: we are going to take as many measures as necessary to improve people’s lives”, assured the Vice President in recent speeches.
Sánchez, at the end of his political term, also tried to emphasize the power of the coalition before the end of the legislature. The socialist leader believes that he will send a good message to the leftist electorate when he signals demobilization in front of the rightists gathered around the PP. The president suggests that Alberto Núñez Feijo is now in the lead, and as all the polls predict, he would be in first place now, but he hopes that those polls will “spin”. Hopes are already high for May’s municipal and regional elections, which will be a prelude to next year’s national elections in December and in which Yolanda DÃaz is expected to emerge from the space left of the PSOE.
For all these reasons, Sánchez does not plan to make a two-way stop for the remainder of his term, a plausible scenario given the unprecedented situation in national politics in which there has never been a coalition government. However, the president insists that it is in the interest of the progressive electorate that the PSOE and United We Can keep the agreement until the end. “It is good that the government comes together at the end of the legislature. It’s a good sign for the future because it means the two left-wing forces understand each other,” he explained in an informal chat with reporters who accompanied him on a tour of the Western Balkans last weekend that he made in support of the entry. from those EU countries.
Likewise, Social Rights Minister and Podemos leader Ione Bellara said on Tuesday that the coalition of the left and, specifically, United We Can, was a “success” and that it “took a lot of effort and effort.” time’ to be able to articulate the progressive government that the country needed. “We are the main guarantor of the coalition government and we want to bring the legislative body to the end,” he emphasized. The message both parts of the executive are sending is that when the next executive meets, it is bound and has the strength to get to the general election in December 2023.
Source: El Diario
