The Plenary Session of Congress this Thursday concluded with an unprecedented exchange of accusations between the PNV and Podemos due to the heated tone of the clash between two Government partners. A few minutes after the voting in the chamber concluded, the parliamentary spokespersons of both parties got into a fight on social networks over an initiative by the Basque nationalists regarding the eviction of occupied homes.
“Ione Belarra lies: the approved PNV amendment is not about evictions, it is about squatters. It does not affect the family that cannot afford to pay for their home. It affects anyone who commits a crime by squatting in someone else’s home. Podemos is in favor of the squat, the PNV is against it,” Aitor Esteban published.
It took fourteen minutes for the leader of Podemos to respond. “You know very well, Repsol deputy, that with this amendment you are criminalizing poverty, the most humble families who have nowhere to take shelter. As Rafa Mayoral said, vertical shantytowns. As you can see, you have no contact with social reality.”
Belarra is referring to an amendment introduced by the PNV in the procedural efficiency law to, according to Basque nationalists, speed up evictions from illegally occupied homes. The parliamentary majority of the Government ended up rejecting the PP’s veto of that law despite the fact that Podemos threatened until the last minute to add its votes to the popular ones if the Government did not fix the consequences of that PNV amendment.
Belarra herself and the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, were negotiating until the last moment some solution to the legal modification which came into force due to an error in the ERC and EH Bildu vote last November. It was then that Congress gave the green light to a reform of the Criminal Procedure Law that, at the initiative of the PNV, added the crimes of usurpation of residence and trespassing to article 202 of the Penal Code so that these could be processed in abbreviated procedure trials.
During this Thursday’s debate, Podemos deputy Martina Velarde regretted that it is her party “who fights” and solves “the problems.” “In the end, it is Podemos who is concerned so that the evictions are not legitimized,” he said. His words received a response from EH Bildu and ERC. Jon Iñarritu assured that it would not be understood to support “what was approved by the PP in the Senate” since “the law is satisfactory.” Even tougher was the Republican Pilar Vallugera, who defended that ERC has been the party that has fought the most against evictions.
“What Podemos is doing is absolutely reckless, unless what they want is for elections to be called and their issue is not to improve the lives of citizens but rather to have elections and win their particular duel with Sumar,” accused Aitor Esteban. in the halls of Congress to Ione Belarra. The Basque spokesperson did not stop there, and pointed out to the purple ones for not assuming that their theses do not have the support of a majority of the Chamber. “For some things there is no majority. No matter how much Mrs. Belarra screams, things are not going to change. We can look for alternatives, she cannot. “She is in a corner of the chamber,” he said in a visibly annoyed tone.
In statements at the Congress Desk after the Plenary Session, Ione Belarra announced that next Monday the Council of Ministers will approve the extension of the social shield that “we achieved with so much effort when I was in Government.” Belarra valued it as “good news for working people, for people in a more vulnerable situation in our society,” and explained that it will consist of the extension for one year of the suspension of evictions for vulnerable people due to non-payment of rent.
Belarra highlighted the parliamentary weight of her group and assured that the conclusion is that “when the Government listens to Podemos, when the transformative and brave policies are made, which I believe is what the people voted for on July 23, not only “That is good for the people, but I am firmly convinced that it is also good for the Government.”
Regarding the repeal of the temporary tax on energy companies, when the PP amendment to the tax reform was approved with the support of Junts and PNV, Belarra alleged: “We are here facing a debate with a much deeper democratic depth than it may seem. ”.
“Actually what we are talking about is who is in charge here, whether Repsol is in charge or the interests of the people are in charge; “Yes, politics is done in an absolutely sexist way or if politics can be done by defending people through feminism and with advances in law,” he added.
Just a week before, Belarra came to define the PNV deputies as “Repsol’s puppies” for frontally opposing the extension of the special tax on the extraordinary profits of electricity companies. Podemos repeats that the PNV’s position on the taxation of large electricity companies is conditioned by the presence of Josu Jon Imaz at the head of Repsol.
This frontal war between the Basque nationalists and Podemos, buried in recent months and which in the last few hours exploded with virulence, adds a new edge to the complexity of the parliamentary majority that supports the coalition government of the PSOE and Sumar, and which is It adds to other parallel clashes between the allies themselves, such as the one between ERC and Junts within the Catalan independence movement and which complicate the negotiations for the General State Budgets a little more.
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