Pedro Sánchez and Yolanda Díaz showed yesterday harmony and “colleague” in the presentation of the coalition government agreement. In the negotiations for the investiture, all the focus has been on Junts’ demands – they are still working on it – and the rest seemed to have been left in the background. But to continue moving forward, a pact with Sumar was necessary to dispel any doubts about the possibility of re-editing a new executive, in the absence of the rest of the possible political allies joining in. And so it has been.
The alliance was signed, as happened in November 2019 with Pablo Iglesias, then leader of Podemos, with a warm hug between Sánchez and Díaz. Everything seems to remain the same, but things are different now. The ministers of the purple space were “absent” and maintain their reservations about an agreement with which Sumar secures a place in the next government.
On paper, the 230 measures include progressive initiatives such as the reduction of the working day – the great milestone of the agreement –, taxes on banks and large energy companies, the expansion of the public housing stock or the regulation of tourist accommodation.. It maintains the script started in the previous legislature with a program clearly leaning to the left that causes hives in the business and economic sector, but also, and this is not minor, in other right-wing political formations that in a few days must decide whether to give support for Sánchez in the investiture.
The PNV has already clearly positioned itself to describe the coalition pact as an “invasion of powers” ??that “does not seem to walk the path of respect for the self-government of the autonomous communities and the development of their statutes.” The labor reform and the housing law have already opened a gap with the PNV and also with Junts and ERC, precisely by stepping on the area of ????competence. And the truth is that many of the announced policies do not seem aimed at mending these differences and some groups fear that they could even end up having an economic impact on the regional coffers.
It will be difficult for Sánchez to square the circle. It is not only about unblocking the most complicated pact of all with ERC and Junts at the helm, with aspirations that revolve around the national issue and the amnesty of those prosecuted by the process, but also about not leaving anyone in the way. . Parties located to the right of the PSOE that must support it during the investiture, but also throughout the legislature if it gets going.
