The party transfers to Moncloa its willingness to make an “exception” and not request a referendum linked to the reform | “It is not necessary to spend a fortune and divide society. It would artificially generate a debate where there is unanimity”
A ray of hope for consensus amid the tension. The reform of article 49 of the Constitution to eliminate the term “diminished & rdquor; advances in Congress while left and right look askance at each other. One of the main stumbling blocks was the reluctance of the PP before the possibility of government partners demanding a referendum, which must be held if so requested by 35 deputies. The main risk was in Podemos, which has sufficient numbers and has claimed to be the “guarantee & rdquor; that society will have the last word in case of the minimum modification of the Magna Carta. A historic promise that the party is now willing to give up to pave the way for reform and meet the demands of the affected groups.
“Not a modified comma without people voting for it& rdquor ;, came to ensure in 2018 the then party leader, Pablo Iglesias, in relation to a constitutional amendment. By then, it was on the table suppression of surveys, although this proposal was never finally considered firmly, given the requests of the rest of the nationalist parties to include other aspects. Unlike then, now there is agreement on the need to limit the reform to article 49, in a modification that generates broad consensus.
However the fear of the popular resided in that the purple join the pro-independence parties to propose the referendum on this modification as a sort of ‘examination’ of the Constitution as a whole; a plebiscite on the validity of the text that could serve as an argument to press for a broader reform that would include self-determination.
More than four years after that promise by Iglesias, Podemos is willing to make an “exception & rdquor; to obtain approval for the suppression of an expression -”disabled”- which has pejorative connotations and which has been widely questioned by groups and associations of people with disabilities. This is how the party has transferred it to Moncloa in a meeting held last week where the spokesman for United We Can, was present Pablo Echeniquetogether with the Minister of the Presidency, Felix Bolanosand the Secretary of State for Relations with the Courts, Rafael Simancas.
“We are willing to give up our demands of constitutional reform to satisfy associations of people with disabilities & rdquor ;, point out sources from Podemos. “Although we have always defended that constitutional reforms be made by referendum, if there is sufficient support and the final text is agreed, we would be willing to make an exception”. A resignation that would be conditioned, yes, to the support of the rest of the formations for the constitutional change.
One of the reasons for Podemos to carry as its flag the holding this type of referendum resides in a kind of historical debt, after the reform in 2011 of the article 135 of the Constitutionapproved during the Government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero after an agreement between PSOE and PP. A change that introduced the principle of financial stability to limit the deficit, and that arrived in the middle of a wave of protests and social mobilizations at the risk of 15M. A reform that Yolanda Díaz has once again brought out in her new political project.
“By then, the The only group that called for a referendum was the IU, and it did not have enough deputies & rdquor ;, sum up knowledgeable sources, who admit that, without it being an agreement as such, this position has been transferred to Moncloa “in petit committee & rdquor ;. The purples point out that it is a conditional resignation to the existence of consensus and “absolutely exceptional & rdquor; because, unlike the previous reform of the 135, where “there was a debate in Spanish society and the referendum had a logic& rdquor; now would not be the case. “There’s no need spend a fortune and divide society for a debate that does not exist, it would be artificially generate a debate where there is unanimity & rdquor ;.
Furthermore, the two Government partners committed themselves in this meeting to “make arrangements & rdquor; with the rest of the parliamentary groups to try to ensure that the reform had the maximum possible support, with the aim that “not even Vox would vote against it& rdquor ;. The purple ones are thus willing to “remove the partisan framework & rdquor; this matter, with the “will that it be approved unanimously & rdquor ;.
At first, Podemos claimed to include in this reform another of the issues that generates the most consensus among the different parties: the recovery of Valencian civil law, a requirement that he also waived to make the change to article 49 viable. In a statement last Thursday, after Echenique’s meeting with Bolaños, the party was in favor of a “comprehensive reform & rdquor; of the Constitution, but assured that he was “willing to circumscribe the reform to this single issue& rdquor ;. Instead, he said nothing about the referendum, which today also seems ruled out.
He The risk of a referendum today would be in the nationalist formations. The PNV has presented a vast battery of amendments to the constitutional reform, but it has also privately promised not to request a referendum. And his position will be crucial: his 6 deputies, together with the 5 of EH Bilduthe 13 of CKDthe 8 of Together and PdeCatthe 2 of the CUP and the one of BNG, add up to exactly 35 deputies, those necessary to force the holding of a referendum, the mere possibility of which threatens the reform.