The PSOE maintains Patxi López as spokesperson in Congress and will propose Vara as vice president of the Senate

Pedro Sánchez is preparing for a high-voltage legislature in the parliamentary sphere.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
15 August 2023 Tuesday 16:31
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The PSOE maintains Patxi López as spokesperson in Congress and will propose Vara as vice president of the Senate

Pedro Sánchez is preparing for a high-voltage legislature in the parliamentary sphere. The choice of his first candidates, such as Francina Armengol to preside over Congress, indicates this. The PSOE general secretary has opted for veterans, with experience in his responsibilities, for a period where the numbers are not enough to guarantee a stable majority with which to achieve an investiture and, subsequently, to approve each law.

With the votes of the Table still in the air, the PSOE will keep Patxi López at the head of the spokesperson for the socialist parliamentary group. The Federal Executive Commission this morning in Ferraz will formalize the appointment of the ex-lehendakari, who came exercising this work in the last part of the last legislature.

Where Sánchez does raise an important novelty is in the Senate. The PSOE leadership will propose Guillermo Fernández Vara for the vice presidency of the Upper House. The former socialist president is chosen to occupy a position of responsibility in the Table. The Socialists therefore give up presenting a candidate for the presidency of the Senate, since the PP will control the Chamber with an absolute majority and would have no problem doing the same with the Table.

The Senate seems like an important Chamber to act as a counterweight to a possible progressive coalition government. The PP could stop for a while the processing of laws, including the General Budgets, with the introduction of amendments that would delay their approval. Congress would then have to reapprove the rules.

For the spokesperson in the Senate, the Federal Executive Commission of the PSOE will appoint Eva Granados as spokesperson for the socialist group, thus repeating the position.

There are barely 24 hours left for the votes in the Table and the PSOE still has not tied up the votes to control Congress. One of the great unknowns to clear up is whether the PNV will become part of the governing body of the Chamber, as proposed by the Canary Islands Coalition. The five Basque deputies collect their minutes this Wednesday but will remain silent until tomorrow. With a jeltzale parliamentarian on the table, the PSOE and Sumar would lose their majority and the PNV would be able to decide each vote.

If there is no agreement with the PNV, the PSOE would have to tie up the seven votes of Junts. Carles Puigdemont has also opted for discretion, aware that the votes this Thursday go through him. The former president of the Generalitat was seen yesterday in Antwerp, in a concert with the minister-president of Flanders. At this time, Feijóo, anchored to Vox, would have 171 votes, more than the progressive forces.