PSOE and Sumar seek to give political impetus to the legislature. After a period in which the minority partner has denounced the lethargy of the coalition, the two Government parties plan to convene the commission to monitor the investiture pact and thus advance the Executive’s agenda. The proposal for the constitution of this body, already included in the agreement between PSOE and Sumar, was formulated by Yolanda Díaz’s party at the beginning of February and, in the middle of the Galician campaign, it was kept in a drawer. Sources from both parties now assure that the meeting, still undated, will take place in the coming weeks, probably before the European elections of 9-J. After a period of discomfort in the Executive, with its hands tied by the refusal to approve this year’s Budgets after the early elections in Catalonia, Sumar plans to present its own proposal for the 2025 accounts in June. The objective is to be able increase pressure on the PSOE to have an agreement closed in October.
As Díaz’s platform made public in the letter he sent to the partner on February 5, the operating protocol of the coalition between PSOE and Sumar provides that in the first 30 days from the formation of the Government, a permanent commission will be established to monitor the agreement. The deadline, however, has been far exceeded and this body has still not met even once. The last legislature, the socialists and Unidas Podemos used a similar mechanism to resolve some of the most serious crises of the Executive, such as the differences over the sexual freedom law or the labor reform. Now, however, the partners want to recover this initiative, but with the intention of “analyzing” the functioning of the Government and showing that the coalition promotes shared issues.
The vice president’s organization has insisted these days on the need to “provide content for the pause” of President Pedro Sánchez. The idea in Sumar is that once the continuity of the Chief Executive has been resolved, the Government must “move”, go “on the offensive” and legislate to “expand rights”. A formula that they defend as the best to stand up to an opposition that they believe has crossed all limits. This same Monday, even with the hangover of results in Catalonia that allow the commoners to be key to the Government, Díaz promised his Executive to present his bill in Congress this week to eliminate gold visas for foreigners for purchase of housing—the calls golden visa—. In April, the Government had already approved a report in the Council of Ministers to study the situation of these permits with the intention of moving forward with their elimination. This is one of the historical flags of the minority partner, which in recent months has seen how the PSOE endorsed several of its demands, also the recognition of the Palestinian State, on which Sánchez has moved a lot, even outside of Spain to attract other countries, and an issue on which Sumar continues to press.
After some extraordinarily difficult months, the feeling in the ranks of Díaz’s platform is that in recent times they have managed to get their heads together and set an agenda. In addition to the Palestinian issue, included in the Government agreement after the insistence of the leftist formation, they also refer to the reform of the unemployment benefit of the Ministry of Labor; to the elimination of the National Bullfighting Award from the Ministry of Culture, directed by Ernest Urtasun; or to the reform of the gag law, registered in the lower house last Friday.
The next step, in addition to the proposal of the parliamentary group to change the majorities in the system of electing members of the General Council of the Judiciary after five years of the PP blockade, will be the negotiation of the General State Budgets for next year. For these to be approved in October, the spending ceiling must begin to be debated in June and reach Congress a month later. The Executive already has advanced work, because the conversations were underway before the Catalan elections were called. Sumar’s priorities include updating the IPREM, which is the index used in Spain to grant aid, subsidies or unemployment benefits; the extension of paid maternity and paternity leaves up to 20 weeks, advance in the regulation of tourist and seasonal rentals, the shielding of public health or the health of publicly owned companies such as Correos or the Efe Agency, sources from Add to the Government.
In parallel, the Ministry of Labor hopes to reach an agreement at the social dialogue table on reducing the working day to 38.5 hours “before the summer.” The Government pact contemplates reaching 37.5 hours in 2025. Its approval would give a boost to Díaz, who would see one of his star measures approved in this legislature, and therefore, to the entire coalition. A milestone after more than 40 years with the working day frozen.
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