The political retorts in the investiture block due to the disappointment caused by the lack of agreement to reform the citizen security law, known as the
gag law,
have been noted at the annual summit between the governments of Spain and Portugal on the island from Lanzarote.
And they have done it with intensity and with a very direct criticism, and not usual, from Pedro Sánchez to two of the great partners of the legislature.
“It is regrettable that both ERC and Bildu have acted by electoral calculation, because the agreement that the two parliamentary groups of the coalition had reached put an end to all those articles that were identified with the
gag law
”, has reproached the president of the Government.
“There is something worse than making calculations: it is making mistakes in the calculation.
And I think that both ERC and Bildu have erred”, he has abounded while highlighting the harmony that, on this occasion, there was between the PSOE and Unidas Podemos to fulfill one of the great electoral promises.
The rejection of ERC and EH Bildu to the project if several essential modifications were not included, such as the express prohibition of the use of rubber bullets by the police to deal with street riots, has made it impossible to reach consensus on a reform that, Sánchez recalled, the PNV promoted in the Cortes.
Failure to comply with it is a complete setback for the government coalition, even though Sánchez has acknowledged in an informal conversation with journalists that the decision of the nationalist left
has
not surprised him.
Regarding ERC's negative vote, he recalled that a year ago he already voted against the labor reform, which was approved thanks to the vote of former PP deputy Alberto Casero.
The agreement between the Socialists and United We Can for a progressive coalition government, signed on December 30, 2019 and key to the investiture of Sánchez, included the reform of the
gag
law as one of its most relevant commitments.
“We will approve a new citizen security law, which replaces the
gag law
to guarantee the exercise of the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly”, it included in the section on civil rights and liberties.
“This new legislation, which will see the light of day as soon as possible, will be based on a progressive conception of citizen security and will prioritize the guarantee of rights and the protection of citizens, and in particular will regulate, among others, the right of assembly, the identification and search of the body, the identification of the agents, and the repeal of article 315.3 of the Penal Code”, it added.
ERC intends to present, together with EH Bildu and Unidas Podemos, a bill in Congress to give "a new opportunity" to the reform of the gag law, after yesterday the Interior Commission fell due to discrepancies on the left an initiative debated for almost two years.
Esquerra sources maintain that the idea is to present a new proposal that is "the least difficult to not be voted on" and that includes the points already agreed upon, but also those in which until now agreement between the left-wing parties has not been possible. such as the use of riot gear or hot returns at the border.
Other points of fracture have been disobedience to the police and lack of respect for the agents.
For it,
They are talking with various parliamentary groups, although the idea is to register this bill as soon as possible, at least with Bildu and, if possible, also with Unidas Podemos, although in ERC they recognize that in Unidas Podemos there are divergences between what they consider nuclear the reform and what not, and they assure that this has complicated the negotiations held up to now.
Some differences that have already been seen between Enrique Santiago and Pablo Iglesias.
Sánchez has also wanted to silence the rumors about the possible dates that he manages to execute the forced government crisis after having opted for Reyes Maroto, Minister of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, and Carolina Darias (Health), as PSOE candidates for the mayoralties of Madrid and Las Palmas.
The remodeling of the Executive "will be after the motion of censure" that will be held in Congress next week, on March 21 and 22, as EL PAÍS announced.
It will be the second motion of the legislature and will once again be presented by Vox, although this time the candidate will not be Santiago Abascal, but the octogenarian economist Ramón Tamames.
The government crisis "will be limited to the two ministers", has assured Sánchez, who wants the changes to be surgical and does not contemplate, at least in his public statements, a more profound remodeling of the Council of Ministers.
"They have done an extraordinary job and I am going to miss them personally and politically, but they have a very important task," the president praised them, under the watchful eye of the Minister of Health, who, unlike Maroto, has attended the summit with Portugal in the Jameos del Agua in Lanzarote.
international commitments
The head of the Spanish Executive was also accompanied by Yolanda Díaz, Second Vice President and Minister of Labor;
Teresa Ribera, Third Vice President and Minister of Ecological Transition;
the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, Pilar Llop (Justice), Raquel Sánchez (Transport), Pilar Alegría (Education), Miquel Iceta (Culture and Sports) and Joan Subirats (Universities).
The president's international commitments indicate that the change in government would take place in the last week of March, together with the week before Easter.
After the motion of no confidence, Sánchez will go to the European Council (23 and 24 March) and will close the week with the Ibero-American summit in the Dominican Republic (24 and 25).
Faced with the noise that is shaking the coalition, especially as a result of the divergence between the PSOE and United We Can over the reform of the law of
only yes is yes,
Sánchez has insisted on the achievements made in a legislature marked by the pandemic and the aftermath of the war in Ukraine.
“In these almost four years we have approved 200 laws, three Budgets, more than 15 agreements with social agents and reforms such as the minimum vital income and the labor reform... With all the difficulties that lie ahead, this coalition government is doing good things for the country and we aspire not only to revalidate the majority in the elections but to expand it to consolidate progressive policies.
And when I say consolidate that parliamentary majority, I logically say it with our government partners, who are represented here by Yolanda Díaz”, he highlighted.
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