The ministers of the coalition government attached to Unides Podemos voted this Thursday against the reform of what is known as the only yes is yes law, while the rest of the Socialist Executive, promoter of the amendment to the same law, left the Council of Ministers voted in favor. There was no government crisis, despite everything, because the intervention of the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, knew how to be critical without being incendiary against her partners, but consolidating the solemnity of the institutional disagreement.
The rectification of the Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom law has led the PSOE to an unusual – first in the legislature – pact with the PP, which has gathered the support of Citizens, the PNB, Junts, Coalició Canà ria and Forum Asturias. Vox did not vote.
Irene Montero intervened from the podium and her speech was a requiem for the rule and a fiery defense of consent as the only condition for judging a crime against sexual freedom.
The minister emphasized the desire for an equality agreement to maintain the unity of the Executive and the proposals that her ministry made to the Socialists for an amendment that would meet their expectations, despite disagreeing with the need for reform. And he lamented the setback that this mutilation means for feminism, a struggle he conjured up.
The PP’s favorable vote, however, was not peaceful. The spokeswoman, Cuca Gamarra, accused the president of the Spanish Government of hiding in order not to go to the plenum – it was in Doñana (Huelva) – and of acting out of pure electoralism, and demanded that this rectification also be covered in form of resignations and terminations, after members of the Executive, such as Victoria Rosell, Government delegate for Gender Violence, went to the demonstration of feminist groups on Wednesday against the Ministry of Justice, a rally that with barely a hundred feminists went.
On behalf of the confederal group of Unides Podem, the deputy LucÃa Muñoz Dalda intervened, who was tough in the defense of the law but avoided launching an offensive against the socialist group, as she had done in the debate on consideration.
Finally, despite the fact that she had requested the telematic vote because the session coincided with her return from the United States – where she had participated in the United Nations General Assembly -, the second vice-president and leader of the Unides Podemos space , Yolanda DÃaz, was in plenary to ratify her position against the reform of consent and rightly applauded the intervention of Irene Montero, seconded by the entire confederal group of Unides Podem.
The harshest intervention was perhaps that of ERC deputy Pilar Vallugera, who underlined the political scope of a rectification promoted by half of the Government against the other half, with the support of the opposition. The spokeswoman of the CUP, Mireia VehÃ, was also very critical, criticizing the punitive competition in which the right and the left have entered with their respective amendments to the rule, all tending to increase penalties.
PNB deputy Mikel Legarda used a conciliatory tone and explained his group’s support for the amendment due to the need to recover the “perception of legitimacy” of a rule that will have benefits in the fight against sexual violence that they are “like an iceberg”, they are not visible but will be seen over time.
PSOE deputy Andrea Fernández, visibly affected throughout the session, defended the urgency of the reform and was very severe with the PP for turning the agreement into a rally against the socialists.
The Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, who until well into the debate was not accompanied by any socialist minister, did not intervene to defend her controversial reform. The images summarize well the difficult parliamentary trance: DÃaz standing upright applauding Montero and Belarra, melted in an embrace, and the PSOE, silent triumphant after hearing the result of the vote, contemplating the standing ovation of a PP, conscious of the extent of the wound.
