"This has to be fixed and modified." The order that Pedro Sánchez transmitted yesterday during the matins meeting before the domes of Moncloa, the Government and the PSOE, was exhaustive and urgent. No room for interpretation or delay.
The President of the Government is not willing to wait any longer and, despite the resistance that Podemos continues to wield, he decided to already promote "a correction" of the law of only yes is yes in the face of the constant trickle of reductions in sentences for sexual offenders that it is causing the application by some judges of the star standard of the Ministry of Equality directed by Irene Montero. The tension between the PSOE and Podemos is therefore maximum within the government coalition, but Sánchez's determination to correct the unwanted effects that this rule is having is also absolute.
The harm is already done for sentences for sexual crimes pending review with the current law on Sexual Freedom in force, as has already happened in nearly 300 cases. But the objective is to prevent softer sentences for sexual crimes that are committed after the approval of the legislative reform that Sánchez urged to activate.
The PSOE leadership thus announced yesterday that, “very immediately”, it will register in Congress a bill that corrects the undesired effects of the “only yes is yes” law.
Minister Pilar Alegría, as spokesperson for the PSOE, assured that this imminent parliamentary initiative – a party bill has a much faster processing time than an Executive bill – will toughen the penalties for sexual offenders, but without altering the “ heart of the law” star of Podemos, which is the explicit consent of women. "That is not going to change in any case," Alegría warned.
The PSOE announced this step despite not yet having an agreement with Podemos in this regard. Alegría showed the interest of the Socialists, and even their "full confidence", in being able to reach a consensus with the purple formation, so that a joint bill, signed by both parties, is registered. But he also warned that if an agreement with Podemos is not reached, the PSOE will register this initiative alone. "In the event that the negotiation is not positive, or that there is no sharing, on the part of the PSOE we will take a step forward," he assured.
In the PSOE they have been warning for weeks, in addition to the devastating electoral effects that the undesired consequences of this rule can bring, also for Podemos, in the face of the imminent new electoral cycle. "Everyone here has to measure the political consequences" of their decision, warn socialist sources before the clash with the purple formation. In the PSOE they also appreciate differentiated positions in this regard between the iron resistance of the Podemos ministers, Irene Montero and Ione Belarra, and the positions of Vice President Yolanda Díaz and other parties of their confluences, from Izquierda Unida to the commons. Other formations of the investiture block, such as Esquerra and the PNV, Más País and Compromís, also support a correction of the law that avoids its perverse effects. In Moncloa and Ferraz they take it for granted that their reform proposal, based on the measures contemplated by the Ministry of Justice of the socialist Pilar Llop, will in any case have broad support to move forward, even if Podemos does not give its arm to twist. "We are sure that all groups will be in favor of tougher penalties for sexual offenders," they allege in the PSOE.
However, they understand that the roadmap to correct the law should in no case be the one proposed by the Ministry of Justice because it would mean "returning" to the previous system. "It is what the Popular Party proposed and it is not a proposal from a progressive government," the Secretary of State for Equality, Ángela Rodríguez, criticized yesterday at the ministry headquarters.
The number two of Irene Montero revealed yesterday that since the month of December three proposals to reform the Penal Code have been transferred to the Socialists. One of them would go through increasing some minimum sentences that are the ones that the judges are resorting to in the lower sentence sentences that are being known. This would be the lesser evil to which they would be willing to give in, as of yesterday. However, they insist on the idea that what is necessary is a plan of urgent measures –yesterday they presented a decalogue– to train and specialize the magistracy in sexual violence.
