“The progressive coalition is not only about respecting each other, but about expanding common elements.” Under this premise, Sumar requested last Monday, February 5, the convening of the commission to monitor the government pact signed with the PSOE. Both parties agreed to hold a meeting that, being strict with the government agreement, should have been launched "in the first month since the formation of the coalition Executive." That is, in December. But, while waiting for the appointment, disagreements between the coalition partners are accumulating. The last one, also, in a capital issue for Sumar: housing.
Yesterday the Council of Ministers gave the green light to the 20% ICO guarantee line for the entry of a first floor at rents of up to 37,800 euros. A measure that the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, did not hesitate to classify as counterproductive, understanding that it will generate a negative impact with “new increases in housing prices.” But the Galician was not the only one to raise her voice, since the national deputy Gerardo Pisarello called her “public money given to the banks.”
It might be thought that it was an isolated incident, but the recent appointment of Carmen Calvo as president of the Council of State yesterday also provoked angry complaints from Sumar's spokesperson for feminism and LGTBI rights, Elizabeth Duval, who tarnished the appointment of the former vice president of the government. considering her, among others, as the one responsible for “hindering the processing of the trans law with her transphobia.”
But just 24 hours earlier, this time at the international level, Sumar formally complained to the Ministry of Defense about the shipment of ammunition to Israel despite the fact that the Government had announced that it had "suspended" arms exports to Israel since October. Hebrew country.
These events do not in any way threaten to derail the legislature, but they have come to air differences that, until now, Sumar had tried to keep hidden. This is what happened with the unilateral decision of the PSOE to agree with the PP on the expansion of the port of Valencia and with the announcement made by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to undertake expansions of the Madrid and Barcelona airports.
Despite the fact that the different parties in the confederal space strongly reject this type of mega-infrastructure – to the point of having included it in their respective electoral programs – the Sumar leadership chose to silence their discontent.
In fact, its leader, Yolanda Díaz, avoided setting any ultimatums regarding the Valencia, El Prat or Barajas projects, knowing that the determination of the PSOE to undertake them would weaken Sumar's role within the Government at the first opportunity. And she opted for a “broad-minded” strategy, ensuring that it was simply necessary to agree on “a general orientation on the budget debate” taking into account the climate emergency situation.
But the truth is that, with those of yesterday, there are already five disagreements in the first two months of the life of the coalition Executive. And that both parties promised a less tense co-governance than that registered between PSOE and Podemos in the previous legislature.
