The Government lives in constant parliamentary fragility and next week it will be evident, once again, in two important debates. On the one hand, Congress will debate tomorrow on the validation of the decree promoted by Sumar from the Executive and which includes the extension of rents. Except for a major surprise, at this time everything indicates that it is going to decline because it does not convince its partners.
On the other hand, two days after that debate, on Thursday, the Lower House will also address for the first time the reform proposed by the Executive to shield abortion in the Constitution. Although the parliamentary process does not have to end there, since it is a comprehensive debate, the lack of support from Pedro Sánchez and the inability to make those measures approved by his Council of Ministers a reality will also be evident.
However, the Executive has no intention of engaging in self-criticism in this context. Quite the opposite: he intends to burden the PP with responsibilities and hope that they are the Alberto Núñez Feijóo those that show wear and tear.
This is especially noticeable in the decree with housing measures. Among its partners, the Government does not have the support of Junts and the PNV has doubts about it. However, he is not launching into trying to win the vote of the Catalan independentists, as he has done so many times in the past. In fact, there are not even negotiations between both groups, as recognized by Junts sources, who are still very upset with Yolanda Diaz for having called them “racist” in an interview.
Sumar is focusing, instead, on trying to pressure the PP to change its position and facilitate the validation of the decree. Through their group in the European Parliament, The Left, a survey was carried out, the results of which were published this week and which the coalition has not stopped airing. According to the survey, 73.6% of Spanish citizens approve of the extension of rents, a figure of 65% among PP voters and 60% among Vox voters.
With this data, Sumar tries to offer the image that the PP would act against its own voters if it does not validate the decree. But it is not the only element of pressure. The Minister of Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduysent a letter last Wednesday to Alberto Núñez Feijóo asking him to reflect and yesterday they called a demonstration in front of the PP headquarters, on Génova Street in Madrid.
“We don’t want to talk about Junts,” sources from Sumar’s management acknowledge. “If the PP does not move, let it pay. People have to be clear about what we are talking about and citizens are showing what they want. What has to happen is that the one who has to pay for it politically is the PP,” they add.
But that pressure does not seem to be generating any kind of dent among the popular ones. Sources from Genoa pointed out, this week in Congress, the paradox that the Government announced on Tuesday a housing plan without parliamentary support to move it forward and that the PP did approve a housing initiative with the support of its partners. “There are majorities,” they claimed, what happens is that they are not on the side of the Government. The sources asked that Bustinduy send letters to the PNV and Junts if he wants to validate the decree; That is, the Executive tries to rely on its partners instead of putting pressure on the opposition for not validating its initiatives.
However, it is practically impossible for the Government’s partners to lend a helping hand. Although the PNV is being less categorical in its rejection, more hesitant, Junts has already announced its rejection of the decree and relations are going through a very bad moment. To the direct confrontation with Sumar we must add that this week his spokesperson in Congress, Miriam Noguerasasked Sánchez to call elections. Although anything is possible in politics, it is very difficult to channel it from there and even less so when the PSOE is barely getting involved in the validation of the decree, as Sumar constantly denounces.
To that defeat tomorrow will be added, two days later, the debate on the entire constitutional reform to protect abortion. The amendments to the entirety presented by PP and Vox will be addressed and although the reform does not have to decline at that time, it will be evident that the Executive does not have the necessary three-fifths of the Chamber to move it forward. But that was already known, and the Executive wanted to register it even so to try to harm the PP. Not in vain, Congress has rushed to hold the debate hours before the electoral campaign officially starts in Andalusia.