A weak Government of Spain survives its first crusade in Congress by one vote

First modification: 01/11/2024 – 00:40

5 min

The telematic voting on the Royal Decrees began at 9:30 a.m. and lasted until 3:30 p.m., although the result was only revealed at the end of the extraordinary plenary session, minutes before 6:00 p.m. (Spanish peninsular time). One text prospered, the other sank and the third was left in the air with a surreal tie. 171 yeses and noes that plunged the chamber into an unexpected stupor.

The accounts did not add up, the seven votes of Junts were missing, which minutes later confessed its abstention in the vote on the three decrees, after an in extremis negotiation with the Government. The Executive agreed to cede powers over immigration to the Catalan regional administration – the Generalitat – and assumed the entire cost of discounts and bonuses for public transport, among other things. The abstention of Junts would have been enough to approve the decree that resulted in a tie, but Sumar deputy Gerardo Pisarello confessed an error when casting the vote, which equalized the contest.

The vote was repeated around 7:30 p.m. Pisarello voted well and the decree was successful with 172 votes in favor and 171 votes against. This is a document that extends to 2024 the anti-crisis package created by the Government to alleviate inflation derived from the war in Ukraine and the drought in Spain. The initiative includes subsidies on the price of the basic food basket, energy and transportation, as well as other measures to alleviate the pockets of Spaniards.

Also by one vote, the Royal Decree known as Omnibus was approved due to the plurality of its topics. Among other things, it reforms the public service and the administration of justice, a point that had set off alarms among the independentists, who considered it a risk for the application of the Amnesty Law that is being processed in Congress, to benefit those involved. in the unconstitutional referendum of 2017 that sought to declare the Catalan republic. Within the negotiation for abstention, Junts managed to get the Government to withdraw article 43 bis of the Civil Procedure Law, which could hinder the amnesty.

The votes against by the five deputies of Unidas Podemos sank the Royal Decree on work and conciliation, which sought to incorporate into the national legal system the European regulations on conciliation and unemployment protection, with measures such as an increase in the subsidy for the unemployed. The deputies of the former Government partner rejected the text because it included cuts to the contribution base of those over 52 years of age. With this setback, Podemos has shown that it will be surgical when it comes to amending progressive projects to include its positions.

The processing of this Royal Decree is vital for the Government because it conditions the receipt of 10,000 million euros of European funds. The second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, has accused Podemos, with whom she has a political rivalry, of committing “very serious irresponsibility.” The text will return to the hands of the Executive, which must reform it, before a second attempt in the Legislature.

The progressive government coalition, made up of the PSOE and Sumar benches, has only 146 seats in Congress, compared to the 169 deputies brought together by the opposition Popular Party (PP) and the far-right Vox. Given the numerical inferiority, the Sánchez Government is obliged to turn its legislature into a permanent dialogue with the other five parliamentary groups to reach the 176 supports that will ensure a simple majority in Congress.

But the independentistas want to turn each vote in Congress into an opportunity to get a slice of the cake. “We will not give our votes in exchange for nothing,” highlighted deputy Míriam Nogueras (Junts), during the only intervention of her party.

In the extraordinary plenary session held in the Senate, for reforms to the headquarters of Congress, the amendments to the Amnesty Law presented by the PP and Vox were also voted on. Cuca Gamarra, general secretary of the PP, attacked the amnesty that, in her words, “protects political coups, terrorist acts, embezzlement and all acts of corruption” of those involved in the 'procés'. Without any major obstacles, the PP amendments were rejected by the legislature with 171 votes in favor and 178 against, while the Vox text only had 33 votes from that party's deputies.

The far-right group of Vox has positioned itself through the deputy José María Figaredo, who has reproached the Government for its negotiations with the independentists: “The bulk of these three royal decree laws is nothing more than payment for those seats in which they are you sitting “It is a payment to the separatists who have supported you to remain in the Government,” he proclaimed while pointing his index finger at the PSOE bench.

The PP took advantage of their interventions to slam the door on Sánchez that will resonate throughout the legislature. The Popular Party is not willing to negotiate anything with the Government, since Alberto Núñez-Feijóo, leader of the opposition, prefers the long-term strategy of forcing a failed legislature to precipitate a call for elections.

Governance in Spain hangs by a thread. The projects that the Executive intends to carry out will depend on the concessions to Junts and the amendments from Podemos, which has shown that it does not hesitate to frustrate the plans of the person who until yesterday was its partner. The Government coalition is holding its breath for the moment, but it seems unlikely to endure an entire legislature in one breath.