There is a maxim that is repeated ad nauseam in the socialist ranks: “When have we ever had it easy?” Since Pedro Sanchez He arrived at Moncloa in 2018, via a motion of censure against Mariano Rajoy, everything has happened in our country.
The times of absolute majorities are left behind and the PSOE has had to struggle to achieve parliamentary agreements and Government never seen before. Added to this are a series of unexpected events, from the management of a global pandemic to a terrible DANAgoing through a war on European soil.
On November 16, 2023, the Congress of Deputies again elected Sánchez as President of the Government. One year has passed since an investiture that went ahead with 179 votes in favor thanks to a plurinational range made up of ERC, Junts, EH Bildu, PNV, BNG and Coalión Canaria, apart from Sumar and the PSOE.
“It’s going to be a tough and complex legislature. But we have to be firm,” top-level socialist sources acknowledged then. The offensive of the right and extreme right represented by PP and Vox It was already very strong and has not stopped for practically a single moment. In those days the ultras were already constantly besieging the PSOE headquarters in Ferraz in the streets and there were attacks on different town houses in various parts of the State. The consequences of DANA have been taken advantage of again this November by the same groups.
The political axis of a year ago was structured around a law, that of amnesty for those involved in the processes from Catalonia. The socialists had already paved the way previously with pardons and maintained a more or less stable relationship with ERC. But the electoral results now forced us to count on Junts, Carles Puigdemont’s party.
The negotiations were not easy and were even carried out outside Spain, with meetings in Switzerland or Brussels of the secretary of the Socialist Organization, Santos Cerdanwith Puigdemont himself. Agreements were finally reached, anticipated by gestures such as the inclusion of co-official languages in Congress, for example.
“It’s going to be a tough and complex legislature. But we have to be firm,” they recognized a year ago in the PSOE.
Law enforcement was lacking. And from the first moment another front was opened, the judicial one. The maneuvers in the courts were constant, with political assessments or unprecedented demonstrations at the doors of the courts. The Government had to modify the law already agreed upon due to demands from Junts, which did not fully trust the protection for all those involved, especially Puigdemont.
Junts has remained very demanding for twelve months. He knocked down some government initiatives. Meanwhile, to the left of the PSOE there were also significant tectonic movements such as the departure of Can of the Sumar parliamentary group. The purple force thus became another political group that had to be negotiated with and they also demonstrated their strength on occasion.
The ‘Koldo case’, Begoña Gómez and Sánchez’s reflection
The current year of the legislature has also been marked by judicial investigations. At the end of February, decisions from the National Court began to be known that pointed to a plot allegedly organized by Koldo Garciaadvisor to the former Minister of Transport José Luis Ábalos. The information caused a shock in the socialist ranks for affecting a very important figure of the PSOE.
Although it had not yet been investigated, the socialists acted quickly and demanded the deputy record to Ábalos. The former socialist leader revolted and remained as a parliamentarian but decided to join the Mixed Group. In parallel, it was decided to expel Ábalos from the PSOE. A decision that, they now point out in the PSOE, was correct given the siege of the former minister, for which his indictment has already been requested.
The judicial front also has another name. The one of Begoña GómezSanchez’s wife. A trickle of journalistic information began to put her in the spotlight for alleged influence peddling on behalf of her professorship at the Complutense University and other alleged favors to companies such as Air Europa. A complaint filed by the ultra organization Clean Hands was accepted by Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, who has extended the investigation to the present day.
Sánchez, Moncloa and Ferraz defended from minute one that there was no case. To such an extent that the President of the Government considered throwing in the towel. wrote a unpublished letter in which he announced that he needed to reflect for five days whether it was worth it for him to continue in office in the face of the attacks he received. The PSOE held its breath, held a cathartic Federal Committee asking him to stay and Sánchez finally announced his continuity “with more force.”
More recently, Justice has also set its sights on the State Attorney General, Alvaro García Ortiz, for allegedly leaking confidential information about Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s partner. Sánchez has defended García Ortiz for doing his job of denying the hoaxes designed by Puerta del Sol, specifically by the Madrid president’s chief of staff, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez.
The unlocking of the CGPJ
In legislative matters, given the exceptional circumstances, the legislature has not had any major milestones. Beyond the amnesty, one of the great achievements has been the agreement with the PP to unblock the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ)something pending due to the refusal of the right for more than five years.
The CGPJ, together with the reform of article 48 of the Constitution, have been the great agreements between PSOE and PP
It is practically the only relevant agreement between socialists and popular in these twelve months, apart from the constitutional reform of article 48 to eliminate the term “diminished” from the Magna Carta. The parity law, the Right to Defense Law or several anti-crisis decrees have also come forward so far as notable issues.
These twelve months have also been marked by electoral processes. Consecutive elections were held in Galicia and Euskadi, which coincided with the calendar. As if the shocks were few, the PSOE found itself with an electoral advance in Catalonia that marked political life greatly. Sánchez did well and, after much negotiation effort, the PSC obtained the investiture of Salvador Illa as president of the Generalitat after a pact with ERC that, on the other hand, further complicated relations with Puigdemont.
Economic data
At the political level, the confrontation between the PSOE and the PP has not ceased, quite the opposite. Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Sánchez have only met once, in December of last year and also in Congress, as the leader of the PP demanded so as not to have to go to Moncloa. In turn, the socialists, with Sánchez included, have delved into the internal divisions of the PP, appealing on many occasions to the real leadership of Isabel Diaz Ayuso. “She is your boss,” the socialist leader has even told Feijóo.
Despite this permanent situation of uncertainty, Sánchez’s intention is to exhaust the legislature. For now, before the DANA administration that has practically paralyzed political activity, the intention is to hold on to the approval of new General State Budgets (PGE). As has been seen this week with the fiscal package, the task is complicated by having to convince diverse ideological groups.
But in Moncloa they do not give up, they warn. In their defense, government sources usually resort to the good performance of the economy and employment data, to the progressive recovery of the main indicators since the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The next few weeks will be key to determine if this is enough to maintain the necessary stability in the most complicated twelve months, surely, for Sánchez.
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