Sánchez appears in both chambers to confront his anti-crisis model with that of Feijóo under the dispute over the CPGJ negotiations
After the parenthesis marked by the National Holiday, PSOE and PP are preparing to resume the parliamentary confrontation and measure their two anti-crisis models. Pedro Sánchez, at his own request, appears this Thursday in Congress and next Tuesday in the Senate, where the third face-to-face meeting between the president and the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will take place, which arrives when both formations They have given “one last chance” to renew the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), after almost four years with its mandate expired.
The tone set in both debates will give a clue to decipher the progress or setbacks in this issue. In the background, the beginning of the final stretch of the legislature, turned into an eternal pre-election campaign with the municipal and regional elections in May in sight and the general ones getting closer, although they still do not have a set date.
Moncloa requested the appearance of Sánchez last week with the aim of informing the plenary session of the Congress of the meeting of the European Council on October 7, and to report on the economic and social measures adopted by the Government to respond to the crisis caused for the war in Ukraine, according to the document registered in the lower house. It was an opportunity to deploy Ferraz’s argument, based on contrasting “two different ways of governing and managing a crisis” and highlighting the socialist recipes against those that the popular put into practice during the governments of Mariano Rajoy.
a different scenario
In the PSOE they consider that Sánchez won the previous one face to face with Feijóo in the Senate and they intended to take advantage of the momentum of the agreement with United We Can in the Public Accounts. But since Monday the scenario is different, and the Executive and the opposition are aware that they must understand each other in the renewal of the Judiciary so as not to further erode the image of justice in Spain and, in the face of citizens, their own.
It is not ruled out that the issue monopolizes the debate, but it is expected that, initially, Sánchez will bring up issues such as the announced tax reform, social aid, the energy saving plan and the main lines of the General State Budgets (PGE) , whose bill was presented last week.
The strategy responds to the growing concern that reigns in Ferraz where, since before the summer and according to the latest surveys, they believe that “social and economic measures are not being explained well to citizens.” On this aspect, Sánchez assured a group of journalists this Wednesday during the reception at the Royal Palace that the current objective of the Government is to approve the Public Accounts and that “the surveys will be seen when the time comes, and when it comes we will turn it around to the omelette”. «Thinking about May with everything we have ahead of us… I’m going to play the game until the last second. This Government has faced unprecedented situations and we are giving a progressive response that will be recognized by the citizens”, he added.
The President’s Advantage
On the opposition side, Sánchez’s two appearances also did not come at the most opportune time. In Genoa they believe that the blockade in the CGPJ could also splash them and “erode” the image that Alberto Núñez Feijóo intends to show as a statesman since he replaced Pablo Casado on the noble floor of Genoa. In addition, the protocol in the Senate allows the president to have the time he deems convenient, which will again reduce the role of the Galician leader, with limited intervention and who does not have a seat in Congress, but does have a seat in the upper house.
This issue already sparked controversy on September 6, when Sánchez appeared in the Senate to account for the measures contained in the Executive’s energy saving plan. The criticism came above all from the PP for two reasons: the length of the president’s reply to Feijóo –more than 45 minutes of reply and 20 in the final intervention– and the fact that Sánchez responded individually to the PP leader while that the rest do it jointly.
In the last meeting of the Board of Spokespersons of the Senate this matter was addressed again, but it was decided that the way in which Sánchez decides to respond is the exclusive competence of the president, who also has no time limit to answer.
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