The 22 members of the new coalition government in Spain promised their positions this Tuesday before the head of state, King Felipe VI, in a ceremony at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, the royal residence.
The members of the coalition Executive between the socialist party PSOE and the left-wing Sumar party promised to respect the Constitution and maintain loyalty to the king.
It is a ceremony that, according to Cadena SER, usually takes place completely normally and in which cordiality predominates between incoming and outgoing officials, but this year the ceremony was surrounded by controversy due to the statements of Irene Montero, minister outgoing Equality of the Pedro Sánchez government.
The controversy of Irene Montero
In the ceremony, The outgoing Minister of Equality Irene Montero welcomed Ana Redondo, who will assume the portfolio from this Tuesdaybut took the opportunity to criticize President Sánchez.
“Minister. I wish you luck, but I think it is not the most important thing a Minister of Equality needs. “I wish you to surround yourself with the best team, that they never leave you alone and that you have the courage to make the 40 and 50 year old male friends of the President of the Government uncomfortable.”he claimed.
(Also read: Why does Pedro Sánchez’s agreement with independentists cause divisions in Spain?)
Then, she went further by ensuring that Sánchez fired her from the Executive for doing just what they had promised when taking office.while accusing him of breaking the unity of the government bloc.
“Today Pedro Sánchez throws us out of this Government precisely for having done what we said we would do: putting the institutions at the service of the advancement of feminist rights. Pedro Sánchez throws us out of this Government and thereby breaks the unity of a democratic bloc in which “We all need each other, each and every one of us, more than ever,” he emphasized.
This is how Sánchez’s new cabinet was formed
Pedro Sánchez’s new cabinet will focus on the economy and institutional stability, with the great challenge of giving unity to a very polarized Spain, which will also have a “high political profile.”
In the cabinet, ten economic ministries stand out out of the 22 total, while, again, there will be more women than men, 12, who will lead them.
In a brief appearance without questions, the socialist leader explained on Monday that the new coalition government in Spain (this time with the left-wing Sumar platform as its main partner) undertakes a stage with “more determination, desire and enthusiasm than ever.”
(Also: Massive march against amnesty after Pedro Sánchez’s inauguration in Spain)
In this legislature, the Spanish Executive will have to face, among other urgent issues, the palpable political and social division due to the amnesty law for Catalan independentists, a condition imposed by these formations for Sánchez’s investiture, which has caused massive protests throughout the country, some violent.
It will also be, as the President of the Government specified, a continuous legislature in the economic area and social policies will be prioritized, specifically housing and subjects dedicated to young people.
Of the 22 ministries announced by Sánchez, 17 are from the Socialist Party while five (Labor, Culture, Social Rights, Health and Children and Youth, the latter newly created) will be occupied by representatives of Sumar, while 12 of them will be led by women.
There will also be women at the head of the four vice presidencies: the Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño (first vice president); that of Labor, Yolanda Díaz (second); the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, and the Treasury, María Jesús Montero (fourth), who adds this position to the Treasury portfolio that she already held in the previous Government.
(Keep reading: Sánchez defends amnesty in Spain for those involved in the Catalan independence process)
Calviño and Montero are joined by Margarita Robles (Defense), José Manuel Albares (Exterior) – who accompanied Sánchez in the Presidency of the Government before assuming that portfolio -, Félix Bolaños (Presidency and Justice), Fernando Grande-Marlaska (Interior) and Luis Planas (Agriculture).
This Tuesday, The inauguration that attracted the most attention was that of the new Minister of Justice, the socialist Félix Bolaños, for the key role of this ministry in the face of a future amnesty law.
Félix Bolaños was the first to promise his position, since as the new head of Justice he served as chief notary of the kingdom before the other ministers, mostly women, twelve, and of them nine who were new to the position.
The new head of Justice promised to work “with respect for the rule of law and the separation of powers,” in the face of criticism about possible unconstitutionality.
Irene Montero, who was Minister of Equality, and Ione Belarra, of Social Rights, for their part, harshly criticized the exclusion of Podemos from the Executive as “unfair and wrong” and blamed Sánchez for siding with the leader of Sumar.
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
*With EFE
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