The division in the audiovisual law leaves a new trail of reproaches that adds to all the previous tensions and those that are glimpsed on the horizon
The two coalition partners deny the divorce and strive to close ranks and project unity in the presentation of the last PERTE, with Sánchez at the helm
The coalition of PSOE and United We can accumulate material wear. Important. The penetrating, lasting “noise” that does not stop within the Government is increasingly present, to the point that it overshadows management, as socialist leaders and ministers privately lament. But the clash between the partners reached a relevant milestone last Thursday. Not definitive, but very significant. Both were separated for the first time in the vote on a project emanating from the Executive: the audiovisual law. The Socialists, responsible for the introduction of a last-minute amendment designed to compensate the large operators (basically, the duopoly of Atresmedia and Mediaset), supported the text and United We Can abstain. Most of the usual allies, except for the PNV, turned to no.
But this Friday, hours after the maximum tension of the day before, Pedro Sánchez and the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, made an effort to send the opposite message: that of unity. The one that the coalition is still alive and has a reel left. It was at the presentation of the eleventh Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE), the social and care economy. A waste of smiles and friendly gestures, a good number of ministers present in the room. Sánchez cited the “progressive coalition government” that has achieved social progress on more than a dozen occasions, he told “Nadia [Calviño]Yolanda [Díaz]” that “the task is not easy but it is worth it”. And he showed “gratitude and pride in the great team” he has in the Cabinet. “Despite the difficulties we are moving towards greater quotas of social conquests”. It was the way to visualize the closing ranks.
Both the PSOE and United We can completely rule out the rupture. It is not on the roadmap because neither of them has the incentive to divorce and assume the cost of some generals who, with probability, would give Moncloa to the PP. But that does not mean that continuous crashes do not leave injuries. Because last week socialists and purples lived to the limit for the abolition of prostitution -a debate that will be revived in just two weeks in Congress-, and in this a separate vote was consummated on a law of the Council of Ministers. With the risk that the fissure will be reproduced, very soon, in another key project of the Executive: that of public pension plans, in which the PSOE has moved closer to the right. All this in a context of estrangement from the usual partners, especially with ERC.
“One more jump”
In the PSOE, they remove “gravity” from what happened with the purples, also because the audiovisual law was not in danger. But they do look askance at UP. It is “one more jump”, that “it was clear that it would happen and that it will continue to happen” as the legislature advances, according to what is indicated in the leadership. In the socialist sector of the Executive, they attribute the position of their partners to “the fights” between Podemos and the Díaz space and their desire to differentiate themselves. But now they think that it is better to look ahead, “rebuild communication channels” and work so that the division does not repeat itself, as indicated in the group’s leadership.
In public, the warning is clear: the different vote must be an exception. The Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, was “convinced of this, among other reasons, because [Unidas Podemos] is the minority force”. That is to say, that the purples have to take into account the greater weight of the PSOE: 120 deputies compared to 33. For the spokeswoman, Isabel Rodríguez, the voting of the groups “must be provided with normality” and ” the important thing” is the content, that the “reforms and transformations” continue.
Sources close to the leadership of the UP group admit that the attitude of their partners, introducing an amendment not agreed upon and seeking the support of the PP, did not please them at all, and that is why they abstained, but they trust that the two-color Executive will continue to function . In this sense, they point out that in the coming weeks they will continue with the usual contacts to carry out the legislative agenda.
The image in front of the PSOE
The federal coordinator of IU and Minister of Consumption, Alberto Garzón, downplayed this Friday the importance of the break in the vote on the audiovisual law. “The differences in a coalition government are consubstantial and they must be normalized,” he maintained, despite the fact that it had never happened before in the legislature that the purples did not support a bill from the Executive. Even so, Garzón assured that “the joint work” of the alliance is not put at risk at any time and that it “enjoys the best possible health.”
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However, in United We Can reproach the Socialists for continuing to seek the support of the PP in the remainder of the legislature. Sources from the purple space emphasize that every time the PSOE relies on the right, the laws come out by a narrow margin, it gives air to the popular ones and wears down the progressive bloc. In this regard, they consider that the purple laws that are being processed —family law, trans law, animal welfare law…— will serve to reinforce their image before a PSOE that builds bridges with the conservatives.
The coalition continues, but with many band-aids behind it. His health is bad, although iron, as its protagonists agree. At least for now.