"This has to be fixed." Pedro Sánchez's order was exhaustive. And the PSOE has announced this Monday that it will register in Congress, "very immediately", a bill that corrects the unwanted effects of the only yes is yes law, given the constant trickle of reductions in sentences for sexual offenders for the application by some judges of the norm promoted by the Ministry of Equality directed by Irene Montero. Minister Pilar Alegría, as spokesperson for the PSOE, has announced that this imminent parliamentary initiative of the bill -with faster processing than the bill that could be promoted by the Executive- will toughen the penalties for sexual offenders, 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 stressed.
The PSOE has chosen to announce this step, despite the fact that it still does not have an agreement with Podemos in this regard. And Alegría has assured that he has "full confidence" that a consensus can be reached between both parties. However, she has also stressed that if this agreement is not reached to register a joint bill, the PSOE will present it alone. The tension between the partners of the government coalition is therefore maximum, but also the determination of the Socialists to act now to settle the undesired effects of the law of only yes is yes, which can also generate a high electoral bill.
"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 ministers of Podemos, Irene Montero and Ione Belarra, and the vice president Yolanda Díaz and other parties of the confluences, from Izquierda Unida to Compromís and the commons. And in Ferraz they take it for granted that their reform proposal will, in any case, have sufficient support to move forward. "We are sure that all groups will be in favor of tougher penalties for sexual offenders," they allege.
Minister Alegría has insisted that the objective of the announced bill is to "correct the unwanted effects" of the rule, "so that they do not occur again in the future." The punctual adjustment of the Montero law, she has pointed out, will be based on "increasing the penalties of the aggressors", based on the proposals prepared by the Ministry of Justice, led by the socialist Pilar Llop. "But in no case will the article referring to the consent of the woman, which is the heart of the law, be touched," Alegría highlighted.
The PSOE's argument is that we can no longer wait to correct the law, after up to 270 sexual offenders have seen their sentences reduced since the entry into force of the norm. “We have verified that the application of the law has generated an unwanted effect that, of course, we did not want. And we want to find a solution”, highlighted the socialist spokesperson. "We must correct these unwanted effects," she has settled.
"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," Alegría has settled.
