The closing of ranks that seemed to be intuited these days in the investiture block deflated yesterday as soon as the outcome of Pedro Sánchez’s reflection period became known. What 72 hours before were calls to unity and messages of encouragement to defend both the coalition Government and its “transformative agenda” changed into suspicions and reservations due to the “lack of concreteness” and the “absence of content” that some and others miss in order to eradicate any shadow of “personalist tactics”, after the “nth pirouette of the President of the Government”.
The first to show reluctance was Yolanda Díaz. Despite the fact that Sánchez’s desire to continue at the head of the Executive brings stability to the coalition, the leader of Sumar called on the president to “change course” to “govern more and better”.
The Minister of Labor even put on the table initiatives such as changing the majority system of the Judiciary, to avoid the blockade of the Popular Party, or the reform of the gag law, despite the fact that, without microphones, sources of the ‘espai admitted certain misgivings and even warned of the crossroads in which Sánchez has put the PSOE: “If it is not filled with content, today’s announcement [for yesterday] will age badly”. And power, “if it is not used, it is lost in the end”, they predicted.
Sumar’s reading was not far from ERC’s. The republican parliamentary group has not doubted its support for the Governen in the troubled legislature, but because of what happened yesterday, distrust is growing in the face of any possible artifice that the president of the Executive might hide: “It would be a bad example if he left , because it was not a resignation, it was a surrender. And a bad example, still, if he remains without doing anything, because it will have been an act of frivolity and not something serious”, pointed out his parliamentary spokesman, Gabriel Rufián, through X.
The absence of plenums due to the Catalan electoral campaign emptied the offices of the Junts parliamentary group, although those of Carles Puigdemont did not hesitate to denounce the “grave irresponsibility” that involves using emotions. Even more so if, as they suspect, Sánchez has used them for “electoral tactics” and to “interfere” in the regional elections in Catalonia.
The negotiation that takes place between the PNB and the PSE for the formation of a government in Euskadi conditioned the reaction of the former. Its spokesman in Congress, Aitor Esteban, used pragmatism to affirm that “the best that can be said is that everything is over and now we must continue working”, although in the face of journalists’ insistence he qualified “unusual” the waiting compass opened by the socialist leader, who even warned him with a view to the future: “Episodes like this are unnecessary”.
Bildu, for its part, celebrated the continuity of the Prime Minister. “Pedro Sánchez’s announcement and the necessary pending regeneration of the Spanish State must be an opportunity for Basque society,” said EHBildu spokeswoman Mertxe Aizpurua.
The last, but no less harsh, warning to Sánchez came from Podemos. The general secretary, Ione Belarra, once again reproached the PSOE for the lack of empathy it showed with the lawfare that some of its leaders suffered during the last legislature. He also doubted Sánchez’s willingness to deal with the serious problems that threaten Spain for “not having offered a single solution despite having the country in abeyance for five days”.
Iglesias himself took it upon himself to package Podemos’ position by summarizing what had happened as “ridiculous”. “Since he has not announced any kind of political response, it does not circumscribe it to a personal situation and, indeed, it is a bit ridiculous to say last week that you will think about leaving and to say today solemnly that you are not leaving” , he declared, leaving up in the air any parliamentary support from Podemos to the PSOE if the latter does not first present “concrete measures” for this point and in addition to what the Prime Minister has announced.
