“Spain is not going to stop at anything or anyone,” Pedro Sánchez assured after signing, together with the leader of Sumar, Yolanda Díaz, the programmatic agreement of a new progressive government coalition for Spain. The leader of the PSOE has thus guaranteed four more years of progressive government, despite the fact that his re-election as head of the Executive still depends on obtaining the support of Esquerra, Junts, EH Bildu, the PNV and the BNG, and a date has still not been set. for the investiture.
Accompanied at the event held at the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid by all the acting ministers -except for the Podemos ministers, Ione Belarra and Irene Montero-, and the negotiating teams of the PSOE and Sumar, Sánchez stressed that the current Executive of progressive coalition, formed in 2019, “was given two days” to live, but has managed to approve three consecutive general state budgets and more than 200 laws. “And we are going to be there for four more years!”, assured the socialist leader, despite not yet having guaranteed the support, particularly, of the Catalan independence movement.
“A lot has been done in these four years, but there is still a lot to do,” Sánchez remarked. “What has been done is not enough, there are still many injustices to be resolved,” he assured. And he has therefore committed to “consolidating the path of progress and coexistence” in Spain, without any express mention of the Catalan political conflict, nor does it appear in the programmatic agreement signed between the PSOE and Sumar.
Sánchez, in any case, has highlighted that with this programmatic pact between the PSOE and Sumar he has the will to offer “stability, coexistence and progress to Spain during the next four years.” The socialist leader has highlighted the progress achieved in his opinion during the previous legislature. However, he has promised: “This time, we are going to do better.” “We have the project, the enthusiasm, the ideas and the teams to move forward faster and faster, as well as the experience of cooperating in a coalition government,” he highlighted.
Contrary to the agreement to form the first agreement to form a progressive coalition Government, which Sánchez and the then general secretary of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, signed in Congress in 2019, the acting head of the Executive and the acting vice president, Yolanda Díaz, today staged the pact between the PSOE and Sumar in an event held at the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid.
The lengthy document of the agreement between the PSOE and Sumar, to form “a new progressive government coalition for Spain”, consists of 48 pages with up to 230 initiatives. One of the most relevant measures agreed upon between both formations is the reduction of the maximum working day, without a reduction in salary compensation, to establish it at 37 and a half hours per week, compared to the current 40. But progressively, and “within the framework of social dialogue”, with employers and unions.
“We will reduce the maximum legal working day without salary reduction to establish it at 37 and a half hours per week,” the agreement document states. Its application will occur progressively, reducing to 38.5 hours in 2024 and culminating in 2025.” From then on, according to the text “a table will be established with the social partners to evaluate the results of the reduction and continue to advance in the reduction of the legal working day, taking into account the characteristics of the different sectors of activity, the evolution of productivity and economic circumstances.
In terms of international politics, the programmatic agreement between the PSOE and Sumar is committed to the recognition of the Palestinian State, but without the unilaterality that Podemos demanded. “The Government of Spain will work actively to promote diplomatic channels that allow progress towards peace in the Middle East and between Israel and Palestine, within the framework of United Nations resolutions and guaranteeing respect for international law. We will support the recognition of the Palestinian State in accordance with the resolution of the Congress of Deputies of November 18, 2014,” the document states.
