The Government guarantees the support of Congress for its economic plan

taketonews

  • Sánchez demands “unity” and promises take further action if the war drags on. The groups, except Vox, are not hostile, not even the PP

  • The president believes that it is already “undeferrable” to increase military spending, and replies to Gamarra that lowering taxes more would undermine the welfare state

Politics, it already sounds like a cliché, is already so full of revolutions that moods change almost every second. From the cornering that the Government suffered, and particularly the president and the PSOE last week, it has moved in recent days to a slightly more comfortable plain, although with the clouds still above. Because of the runaway inflation figure for March, 9.8% -known this Tuesday-, and whose control is the most immediate task that the Executive has to face, and because of the turn in the Sahara that continues to isolate Pedro Sánchez. But the ‘Iberian exception’ that the socialist leader obtained in Brussels last Friday and the approval of the crash plan against the war in Ukraine, welcomed with reservations but without too much hostility by the groups, have relieved the bipartisan and diffused the strong internal tensions of recent days.

The royal decree law of anti-crisis measures, already published in the BOE (160 pages), will not have problems in principle to be validated by Congress. It was clearly perceived in the plenary session of the Lower House this Wednesday, during the long appearance, seven and a half hours, of the president. Discounted the no of Vox, the rest of the parties stated their objections. They criticized the delay, the limited validity of the text (until June 30, which is why the PP called it the “spring plan”), the scope of the measures. But a resounding rejection was not heard, not even from the popular ones, about to culminate the landing of Alberto Núñez Feijóo. For this reason, and after three responses, in which the party coordinator, Cuca Gamarra, did not discover the meaning of his vote, Sánchez clung to a certain optimism, he clung to “that nail & rdquor; given that she had not said no to the validation of the decree, despite repeatedly urging her to clarify her position.

Sánchez clings to a certain optimism with the PP, he clings to “that nail & rdquor; since Gamarra does not anticipate his no to the validation of the decree

The chief executive did not bring new announcements to the Chamber. It was not the day, they justified in Moncloa. It was about presenting an initial speech “of height & rdquor ;, of almost an hour and a half, “of State”. In reality, the common thread was, at all times, the appeal to the “unity & rdquor; at an “exceptional” moment, plagued by “uncertainties”. “I request union, support. It does not seem to me that asking for support and unity in the midst of a pandemic and a war in Europe is too much to ask. […]. I ask you for the good of Spain and Europe& rdquor ;, he stressed. The unitary will of the shock plan “necessary & rdquor; and “ambitious & rdquor ;, she said, is “resounding & rdquor ;.

“The crisis ends in June?”

In pursuit of that unity, precisely, and to calm the groups, the president announced that he will have no problem stretching the anti-crisis measures if necessary: ​​the emergency plan “it’s not definitive”, but “open and dynamic”, and if the dispute drags on, “the Government will not hesitate to act again”. “Is the crisis over in June?” asked the ERC spokesman, Gabriel Rufián, sarcastically.

The emergency plan “is not definitive”, says the president, but rather is “open and dynamic”, and if the dispute drags on, “the Government will not hesitate to act again”

To the dramatic “what else has to happen to respond together?” de Sánchez responded Gamarra making fun of the frictions in the coalition: “I agree with you, unity is very important, but are you capable of guaranteeing unity in your government? What else has to happen for the president to keep his word? & rdquor ;. The popular make Sánchez ugly that he has not incorporated more tax cuts, as he promised at the Conference of Presidents of La Palma, and that he does not cut “superfluous” public spending.

“Everything works out for you lowering taxes&rdquor ;, the chief executive stirred, recalling that he has extended the tax cut on the electricity bill, but also providing a more substantive reason: “It is suicidal to disarm the welfare state that it must act to defend the most vulnerable & rdquor ;. Incidentally, he answered Feijóo’s accusation that the State “is rich & rdquor; with taxes: “Some have made a fortune, and a lot, based on bonuses and illegal commissions & rdquor ;.

Vox did clearly anticipate his no. Edmundo Bal, from Cs, demanded tax cuts and nuclear power, although he was not very explicit regarding the meaning of the vote. The usual partners of the Executive, each with his observations, showed his support or, at least, his abstention. “It is difficult to oppose”, summarized Joan Baldoví, from Compromís. The recurring criticism was the delay in making decisions, which would have saved him “many upsets&rdquor ;, influenced Aitor Esteban, from the PNV, complaining about the “band-aids” that the decree puts, when you have to think about “the day after.”

The imprint of United We Can

The protest was also due to the insufficiency of the plan. ERC and Bildu demanded more structural measures, intervene in the electricity market (Sánchez replied that it is European and that Spain cannot act by force), a fiscal reform. “The elephant in the hemicycle”, verbalized Íñigo Errejón, from Más País, is “who is going to pay” the anti-crisis plan, so the Government “cannot make mistakes in the distribution of burdens & rdquor ;. The PDECat advanced its support, and more distant were forces such as Junts or the CUP. Pablo Echenique, spokesperson for United We Can, did not hide the discomfort of the purples for the Sahara, but he did congratulate himself on the letter of the decree law, because in his opinion its mark on the Executive is demonstrated, with measures such as the 2% cap to rents or the prohibition of dismissals due to war.

The usual partners of the Government criticize the delay in the measures and also their insufficiency. The left asks for “structural measures” or a fiscal reform

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Sánchez confirmed that this week Spain and Portugal will send their proposal to Brussels to limit the price of gas, he boasted of acting against the heaven-sent profits, blamed “73% & rdquor; from the March inflation figure to the cost of energy and unprocessed food. In fact, the confidence of the Executive is that with the writing that Madrid and Lisbon raise to the European Commission it will be possible to “bend the curve” of prices. And he stressed that it isunpostponable” the increase in military spending, up to 2% of GDP, not “suddenly”, but “progressively”.

In Moncloa and in the leadership of the PSOE they believe that the worst drink has already passed. In the absence of what happens in the following weeks and months., because the control of inflation will be crucial for the fate of the Executive. They did not even give too much importance to Gamarra’s harshness: his speech was “transition“, has not just “found the tone”, they dispatched. The anti-crisis decree seems, for now, saved.



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