Iglesias warns the PSOE about the housing law: "They will not bend us"

Pablo Iglesias, in the video that announced that he wants to stand as a candidate for the elections of the Community of Madrid.Dani Gago / EL PAÍS

The second vice president of the Government, Pablo Iglesias, defended this Friday his proposal to stop abusive rents by law against the initiative of the PSOE to create tax incentives to lower rents.

“They are not going to bend us.

It is signed on a piece of paper and Sánchez cannot allow himself to lie to his voters, ”Iglesias assured in an interview on the

by TVE.

The government agreement signed a year and a half ago between the PSOE and United We Can for the inauguration of Pedro Sánchez included a commitment to stop the abusive increases in rents and proposed measures to "put a ceiling" on those prices.

The latest clash between the PSOE and United We Can comes after Pablo Iglesias' announcement this week that he will cease to be second vice president to embark as a candidate for the Community of Madrid.

"It is more than likely that when Mrs. Ayuso is really investigated she will be charged and end up in prison," Iglesias has already charged in a pre-election tone against the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, although without specifying any possible irregularity in its management.

The leader of Podemos has also predicted that Ciudadanos will end up disappearing from the Madrid Assembly.

The housing law constitutes an emblem for Podemos and Iglesias has once again emphasized the importance of the Government agreement signed between the PSOE and United Podemos to regulate the price of rents.

"It will go forward because it has been signed," the vice president stressed, also recalling that the Constitution recognizes the right to housing.

"The PSOE cannot afford to carry out a law that favors large landowners with the support of the PP."

If he does, he added, "he will be closer than Yolanda Díaz - whom Iglesias considers the ideal candidate of United We Can to the general elections - is president."

And he assured: "We are going to reach an agreement, we cannot consent that what has been signed is not fulfilled."

• Ábalos proposes to discount up to 90% to owners who lower the rental price

The Ministry of Transport, led by José Luis Ábalos, on whom this matter falls, has proposed to tax rents in the future housing law by up to 90%, rents in stressed areas if the owner lowers the price by at least 10%.

The measure is part of an extensive battery of tax credits with which Podemos is not satisfied.

"We are not here to be liked by the real estate employers," Iglesias has defended about these tax incentives.

The leader of United We Can has gone a little further and has defended that the socialist bases "are not going to consent to it."

"They said 'With Rivera, no' and that is why they ruled with us," he stressed.

Columbus's mistake

Regarding the next elections to the Community of Madrid, in which he has yet to be elected a candidate due to his training, Iglesias has predicted that Ciudadanos will end up disappearing from the Madrid Assembly.

"They made a mistake in the Plaza de Colón", in which the leaders of the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox joined for the first time, on February 10, 2019. "It will disappear, it will not be in the Government", has said during the interview on TVE.

Regarding Ayuso, the president of the Community of Madrid from whom she has received harsh attacks in recent days, has considered "more than likely" that when she is investigated "for real", "she will be charged and end up in prison."

The vice president has not pointed to any irregular management, but has related this statement to the fact that "all the general secretaries of the PP in Madrid have been charged," later quoting Esperanza Aguirre, Cristina Cifuentes and Ignacio González.

“It is a danger to our democracy that these people can govern.

They are dangerous, when we say that the PP is synonymous with delinquency and crime we are telling the truth ”.

The second vice president has not specified on what date he will leave the government, although he continues to maintain that he will resign his seat in Congress and that it will be close to the electoral campaign for the elections on May 4.

He has also shown his confidence that the coalition government will exhaust the legislature.