Fourteen days before the important vote on the 17th in which the Presidency and the composition of the Congress Table will be decided, the PSOE, through the acting Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, wanted to send a message to the independence movement: “It would not be understood” that some parties, in reference, especially, to Junts and ERC, remain in “maximum positions”.
For Bolaños, it is understandable that the formations on which the governing body of the lower house will be formed “begin negotiations with maximalist positions.” However, he has added that it would not be understood that they maintain these positions “without making any type of movement”. “What we have in our hands is something as important as the future of our country,” he defended.
The pieces on the board are moving, with some initial scores in the form of a hook that revolves around financing, the judicial horizon (this Thursday marks 1,700 days with the CGPJ blocked) or the Catalan language. That is why Bolaños, one of the PSOE members involved in the parliamentary talks, has stressed that “any agreement we reach must be a point where all parties feel comfortable.” “Within the law and the Constitution”, he has added himself.
With the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, resting with his family in Morocco, the Socialist negotiator has indicated that “we, from the Government, are in no hurry.” Even so, the deadline is within two Thursdays, the date on which the new deputies will abide by the Constitution and will vote if the Congress Table is controlled by the PSOE or by the PP.
The regulation of the chamber includes the liturgy for that day 17, where the first alliances can be verified after the elections. Article 37 states that to elect the president of Congress an absolute majority will be required in a first vote. If no candidate obtains it, “the election will be repeated between the deputies who have reached the two highest votes and the one who obtains the most votes will be elected.” Vice-presidents and secretaries of the Board will then be elected simultaneously: whoever achieves the most votes will be elected in successive order.
Bolaños has influenced this Thursday from Almería that the limits of the negotiation are the law and the Constitution. And he has asked for discretion: “It is a rule that has been successful during the legislature, let’s be discreet, respectful and responsible.”
Regarding the reform of regional financing, which the PSOE has put on the table this week, the acting Minister of the Presidency has highlighted that “during the five years of the Government of Sánchez, all the autonomous communities without exception have received more resources than during previous governments. He has given the example of Andalusia, which has received 38.6% more resources, which is equivalent to 6,000 million more per year. “These are the figures and these are the facts,” he concluded.
