Give and take. Or one of lime and another of sand. Pedro Sánchez ordered all internal and external negotiations to be accelerated in order to resolve the most conflictive legislative agenda before the end of the year, which is leading him to settle and balance all the latent struggles for months between the PSOE and United We Can.
In this balance of forces in the coalition, on some occasions the theses of the Socialists prevail and on others the demands of the minority partner triumph, in turn divided between the positions of Podemos and those of Vice President Yolanda Díaz, with whom with Frequently the commons and the United Left align, as they assume in the Government. Despite the constant friction in the coalition, the objective is to save the laws, even if both are forced in some cases to give up their positions... and to cover their noses.
This is the case of the reform of the crime of embezzlement, which bothers and creates many doubts in all sectors of Unidas Podemos, from Vice President Díaz to IU, passing through Podemos and also the common ones -hence the refusal of the confederal group to appear as part of the agreement with ERC–, despite which, they will support it with their favorable vote.
This controversial reform also generates caution and fear in the PSOE, although the majority of the Socialists grit their teeth and close ranks before Sánchez's decision to try to complete the agenda for resolving the political conflict in Catalonia. With the usual exceptions. The president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, yesterday reiterated his forceful rejection of this penal reform: "It is not tolerable to agree with criminals on their own sentence," he cried. And today it is expected that the president of Aragon, Javier Lambán, will also express his frontal opposition. "Legislating with names and surnames also corrupts politics, it is a form of corruption," warned Alfonso Guerra. Faced with these discrepancies in the PSOE, its spokesperson in Congress, Patxi López, defended that "a brave government faces problems." And he justified the decision to settle "a political problem."
Sometimes, however, a complex balance is achieved that pleases both the PSOE and Unidas Podemos, even if it forces them to change their pace. Thus, yesterday the socialist claim to introduce a "technical adjustment" was imposed to try to avoid the unwanted effects of the application by some judges of the law of only yes is yes, star project of the Ministry of Equality of Irene Montero that is causing reductions in sentences for sexual offenders. But without touching the law with a transitory provision, as defended by Podemos.
The solution came through a transactional amendment, agreed by the PSOE and Unidas Podemos, to the proposal to reform the Penal Code that is expected to be approved this Thursday, by an absolute majority, in plenary session of Congress. The paragraph that is incorporated, as they alleged, "facilitates the interpretation of the transitory law in accordance with the consolidated jurisprudence, for a correct application of the modifications of the Penal Code."
This amendment not only tries to avoid the perverse consequences that the application of the new law on Sexual Freedom is having, but, according to Moncloa, it would also prevent the ongoing embezzlement reform, before which Unidas Podemos distanced itself from the PSOE, may have equally counterproductive effects on convictions for corruption cases such as those of the Gürtel and Kitchen plots.
The day before, it was the PSOE that had to definitively assume the theses of United We Can on the trans law, failing to obtain the support of the Popular Party to include the judicial guarantee for gender self-determination up to 16 years of age as it demanded. "We have not withdrawn our amendment, we have lost the vote", admitted with sportsmanship the socialist spokesman, Patxi López.
The Council of Ministers in turn approved yesterday the Family Law promoted by Ione Belarra, head of Social Rights and general secretary of Podemos, after several weeks of a delay imposed by other socialist ministers to finish outlining the norm. On November 29, the Government approved the trafficking law, promoted by the Minister of Justice, the socialist Pilar Llop, which Belarra herself described as "insufficient."
And there are still several struggles to be resolved in the coalition, such as the animal welfare law, which threatens to remain in the pipeline of parliamentary processing in the face of discrepancies over the regulation of hunting dogs demanded by some PSOE barons. Or the housing law, which it is already assumed will not be agreed upon in time before the end of the year. The PSOE and Unidas Podemos also continue with their swords raised in the face of the partial repeal of the gag law –which seems to be running aground– or the pension reform, but they also keep negotiations open for the extension of social protection measures to contain the inflation and around the decree of the Ministry of Economy to alleviate the effect of interest rates on mortgages and that all of United We Can consider very deficient.
In any case, for now, the acceleration schedule dictated by Sánchez is being fulfilled. And more than the discrepancies between partners and allies, it seems that it will be the speed of the vehicle through the narrow passage of the week and a half that remains of the session that causes metal screeches and leaves visible marks on the coalition bodywork.
