The recently re-elected President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, confirmed on November 20 the formation of the new cabinet in which 12 ministries will be headed by women. After four months of political stagnation following the inconclusive legislative and early elections of July 23, Sánchez returns to office, but faces a period that is expected to be plagued with tension, especially after the agreement on the controversial amnesty law that gave him the votes of the Catalan independentists to be invested.
A cabinet “with a marked feminist accent” and “continuist in the economic area.” This is how the re-elected President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, described his cabinet team for the next legislature.
The socialist leader maintains the 22 ministries of the previous period, among which he only incorporates nine new faces and 12 will be led by women.
Among the ministers who will continue in the same position, Nadia Calviño, first vice president and minister of Economic Affairs, stands out, although she is a favorite in the race for the Presidency of the European Investment Bank (EIB), whose new director will be announced next December. If elected, she will have to leave the Executive and Sánchez will be forced to replace a minister in less than a month of his new term.
Félix Bolaños also continues in his functions, preserving the Ministry of the Presidency and Relations of the Courts, but, in addition, he assumes the Justice portfolio.
He is the trusted man of the President of the Government and the architect of the amnesty law, the controversial project with which the ruling party obtained the support of the Catalan deputies in exchange to finally be invested last Thursday, November 16.
Likewise, Bolaños will continue to head the General Commission of Secretaries and Undersecretaries, in which the Councils of Ministers are prepared and decide which measures are raised to be approved or not.
This is “a high-level political team for a high-level political legislature (…) They are people capable of governing, but also of reaching agreements,” Pedro Sánchez stressed.
They also retain ownership of portfolios: the Minister of Energy, Teresa Ribera, the Minister of Budget, María Jesús Montero and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.
Sumar maintains five portfolios; eight ministers leave the Government
The bench retains its share of power with five departments, the same as the previous legislature.
The leader of that left-wing coalition, Yolanda Díaz, – and who played a fundamental role in the negotiations with the Catalan independentists, who finally gave their crucial votes for Sánchez’s re-election last week – maintains her positions: second vice president of the Government and Minister of Labor and Social Economy.
Likewise, the leader of the progressive coalition incorporated a new vice presidency, all headed by women, so there will be a total of four. The novelty is in the portfolio of the Ministry of Finance, whose second ownership will be in charge of María Jesús Montero.
Who is left out of the new legislature? Irene Montero, who led the Ministry of Equality; Pilar Llop, who served as Minister of Justice; Raquel Sánchez who leaves the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, which becomes the responsibility of the socialist Óscar Puente; Héctor Gómez, until now Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, who will be replaced by Jordi Hereu, from the Socialists Party of Catalonia and former mayor of Barcelona; Miguel Iceta, who leaves the Culture and Sports portfolio; José Miñones, who leaves the Ministry of Health; Ione Belarra, leader of Unidas Podemos, who will no longer have the Social Rights and Agenda 2030 portfolio.
“They have thrown Podemos out of the Government”
This was the reaction of the political bench, which was diluted in the Sumar coalition, in the face of the last general elections on July 23, after learning that it will not be in charge of any of the ministries of the new cabinet.
Last Friday, November 17, the party rejected Yolanda Díaz’s offer to appoint Nacho Álvarez as Minister of Social Rights. Finally, the bench, considered extreme left, will not lead any of the cabinet portfolios.
“Pedro Sánchez and Yolanda Díaz have thrown Podemos out of the Government. It is a serious mistake and bad news for Spain. It limits when it does not limit the possibilities of real changes that the country needs,” said the party spokesman, Pablo Fernández, in a press conference.
Pedro Sánchez and Yolanda Díaz have thrown Podemos out of the Government.
It is a mistake and bad news for Spain since it limits, if not curtails, the possibilities of profound transformations and social advances that the country needs. pic.twitter.com/C4seNEBvY0— Pablo Fernández (@_PabloFdez_) November 20, 2023
Her statements came after it became known that Ana Redondo will replace Irene Montero, from Unidas Podemos, as Minister of Equality, who starred one of the biggest controversies of the previous legislature: the one known as the ‘Only yes means yes’ lawwhich led to the reduction of sentences and even numerous releases for sexual criminals.
Sánchez faces a term of constant challenges
The coalition government, between the PSOE and Sumar, only has 152 seats of the 350 in Parliament. And, therefore, it will have to close agreements with regional parties to approve essential laws, such as the budget for 2024 and the increase in the minimum wage.
But difficulties are already expected to approve measures in a Government with a parliamentary minority and there are even those who question whether Sánchez will be able to complete the entire four years of his administration in the face of strong friction.
Although Sánchez ended up obtaining three more votes than required to be invested with an absolute majority, it was an investiture agreement, not a legislative one, the Junts per Catalunya politicians stressed, before giving his crucial seven votes, but whose support will be constantly evaluated, according to the fulfillment of the ambitions to which they aspire.
At the heart of them, a path to a referendum on the independence of Catalonia, a highly sensitive issue inside and outside the Spanish Legislature.
In addition, the possible difficulties in passing the amnesty law remain to be seen. The conservative Popular Party (PP) and Vox, from the extreme right, not only announce that they will block the measure, but have led the calls for protests that have spread in recent weeks to express the rejection of sectors of society against the eventual norm.
Within the framework of the complexities, on November 14, the full Senate approved the reform of the Regulations, which aims to delay its validation, despite the reluctance of the left, which considers the regulatory change as unconstitutional.
As if that were not enough, Unidas Podemos had already warned that it would separate from Sumar if his exclusion from the new cabinet was confirmed, as it finally denounced this Monday.
Sánchez’s governability would remain in the hands of regionalist and independence parties, such as Junts or Esquerra Republicana, which constantly threaten to withdraw support for the Government leader, if their claims are not obtained.
With local media
#marked #feminist #accent #Sánchezs #cabinet #legislature