The groups that supported Pedro Sánchez’s investiture in 2023 are beginning to show clear signs of fatigue regarding their relationship with the Government due to the alleged corruption schemes being investigated by the National Court that threaten the Executive. Faced with the possibility of an abrupt end to the legislature, no one wants to appear in the photo alongside the socialists or a prudent distance is already being sought to act as a firewall.
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The PNV and Junts, who insistently demand elections, are at the forefront in this regard and make it clear that there are no longer possible majorities in the chamber, since without their participation the Government lacks the necessary support to approve its initiatives. “We expect nothing more than President Sánchez calling elections,” emphasized yesterday JxCat spokesperson in Madrid, Miriam Nogueras. A request that, although not new, gains relevance after the Basque nationalists – without mincing words – declared this same week the legislature over.
Maíllo questions the accusation launched by the PSOE of a judicial plot and calls for accountability
But beyond the position of the post-convergent and the jeltzales, voices are also beginning to emerge on the left spectrum of the chamber that do not adhere to the PSOE narrative, which attributes the judicial investigations to lawfare. Esquerra – which places the red line at irregular financing and a guilty verdict – Compromís, BNG, and Podemos registered on Thursday a request for the appearance of the President of the Government, just nine minutes after Sánchez did the same to give explanations in parliament.
However, perhaps the most significant voice is that of the federal coordinator of Izquierda Unida, Antonio Maíllo, who in response to the judges’ plot denounced from Moncloa and Ferraz said yesterday that “if the house were clean, no one would warn about the dirt on the floor.” His party, IU, is part of Sumar and has in the Council of Ministers the Minister of Youth and Childhood, Sira Rego.
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Furthermore, Maíllo believes that Sánchez must take responsibility for having chosen “absolutely inadvisable” people for positions of utmost trust, referring to the former PSOE secretaries of organization under investigation: Santos Cerdán and José Luis Ábalos. “We wanted Sánchez’s appearance because he cannot be on the defensive, nor look the other way, but face up to it,” Maíllo stated during a television interview.
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The Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, also referred to this matter, coinciding yesterday with Sánchez at an event at the Cervantes Institute. In a video on his social networks and in a message sent to members, he asked his fellow travelers for explanations and warned that “the solution will never come from the Gürtel party in coalition with the far right,” referring to PP and Vox. There was a mix of good and bad in his words. “We are aware that there is an operation by the most reactionary forces to destroy the Government, but that cannot be an excuse for the PSOE not to adopt the reforms and decisions it has to make,” he explained.
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Today it is expected that the coalition partners – Sumar, IU, the commons, and Más Madrid – will intervene in Barcelona, at an event where they will most likely raise the tone against the socialists by demanding explanations. “Without the support of Junts and the PNV it is impossible to approve anything,” sources from Sumar state, who believe it is difficult to outline the future of the legislature. Hence the partners seek a balance between accusations they consider “very serious” and maintaining coexistence.
The president’s explanations, however, will have to wait, as he will not speak in Congress until the end of June. As he has done on another occasion, he is also expected to report on the European Council of June 18 and 19. Therefore, one of the dates being considered is June 24. By then, former president José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero will have already appeared before the judge in the Plus Ultra case and there will be more perspective.
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