Pedro Sánchez chose to emulate the Portuguese António Costa’s Gerigonza, instead of the grosse koalition of the German Angela Merkel, to try to reach Moncloa. It cost him dearly – he was defenestered by the PSOE itself – although in the end he succeeded. But after three years of coalition government with Unides Podemos, and having to sweat ink to approve each initiative with a heterogeneous parliamentary majority in which ERC plays a key role, Sánchez acknowledged yesterday that he feels “a healthy envy” for the absolute majority with which the socialist Costa now has, with whom yesterday he starred in another Spanish-Lusitanian summit in Lanzarote.
“In Spain the parliamentary reality is much more fragmented”, alleged the head of the Executive. With the barely 154 seats available to the coalition between the PSOE and Unides Podemos, he admitted, “we are not only obliged to agree among ourselves, but also later we have to go out into the parliamentary arena to agree with different parliamentary groups “.
But the difficulties of articulating parliamentary majorities with the investiture block, especially in the final stretch of the legislature, have just become clear that ERC and EH Bildu dropped in Congress on Tuesday the promised reform of the Citizen Security law, the so-called gag law that imposed the absolute majority of the PP in 2014. And yesterday Sánchez charged harshly against these two groups that usually support their mandate. “It is to be regretted that both ERC and Bildu in this case have acted out of electoral calculation”, denounced the president.
The PSOE and Unides Podemos agreement with the PNB initiative, he emphasized, put an end to the issues considered the most harmful of the gag law. “There is one thing worse than even doing calculations, and that is making mistakes in the calculation. And in this case both ERC and Bildu have made a mistake in the calculation”, he warned.
Despite the bitterness that his parliamentary minority causes him again, Sánchez defended the successes of the Government coalition between the PSOE and Unides Podemos, with more than 200 joint initiatives approved, including three consecutive General State budgets, the labor reform, the minimum living income or, now, the pension reform. “With all the difficulties we face, which are many, this coalition government is doing good things for our country”, he assured.
The coalition between the PSOE and Unides Podemos will not only not be broken before the end of the legislature at the end of the year, despite the clash over the reform of the only yes is yes law and other internal discrepancies, but Sánchez stated that he aspires to reissue it after the next general elections. “We aspire not only to revalidate the majority in the next elections, but even to expand it, so that we can consolidate progressive policies”, he assured. “And when I say consolidating this parliamentary majority, I mean it logically with our Government partners, who are here represented by Yolanda Díaz”, he pointed out with reference to Unides Podemos, with the second vice-president of the Executive, still waiting to be made official his own electoral platform, sitting in the front row of the event held at the Jameos del Agua.
Sánchez celebrated, as one of the successes of this coalition, the agreement for pension reform signed just yesterday with the unions UGT and CC.OO., after the pact between the PSOE and Unides Podem, which he already predicted which will have a parliamentary majority for validation. “We have succeeded, we are celebrating”, he congratulated himself.
Sánchez criticized the opposition to this reform by the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi. “It’s not surprising, because the big employers already announced their vote against it. Many times you don’t know who is leading the way for whom, but it is clear that there is total harmony and absolute synchrony between the two terminals, the political right and the economic right”, he accused.
