The coalition government is going to take a long time to process the reform of the ‘only yes is yes’ law. The PSOE has requested that the bill that it registered at the beginning of the week, unilaterally and by withdrawing from United We Can, be processed through the urgent route in Congress. That means cutting all the deadlines in half, but even so, at least four weeks will be necessary for it to be approved in the Lower House. A long time for the partners in the Executive to continue in a constant tug of war, giving daily samples of their discrepancies. For now, before this battle, the purple ones hold the pressureThey do not give in to the proposal of their partners and try to position themselves as the proactive part of the negotiation that ends up avoiding a pact with the PP.
It’s been almost two weeks since the apparent consensus that existed in the Executive regarding the ‘only yes is yes’ law broke down. Although it took months secretly negotiating how to modify the norm, socialists and purples had avoided public contention and, with more or less success, had been avoiding the issue. However, in recent weeks two things have become clear: the norm will be reformedwhether or not there is consensus between both partners, and that Neither of the two formations is willing to give upwith the consequence that the bill ends up depending on the vote of the PP.
The purple ones denounce that the socialists have given in to the noise and are guarantors of the essence of the law
accustomed to stress
The purple ones, for the moment, do not see room to make more resignations. In public and in private, the leaders of the Ministry of Equality, led by Irene Montero, and Podemos remember that they have made up to six different proposals to the PSOE, accepting changes, despite the fact that they believe they are not necessary. But they have marked a red line not to reintroduce “violence and intimidation” as an axis to determine the type of crime. “The pressure? We are used to it”ensures a source of the purple address that recalls that they have already “yielded” to enough requests from the PSOE.
The problem is, according to socialist sources, that they are not clear about the proposals of United We Can. In this sense, they demand that their partners write down their approach to reform the ‘only yes is yes’ law. Sources from the purple management emphasize that at no time have they stopped presenting alternatives and that their approaches are clear: raise the minimum sentences and introduce the concept of “violence and intimidation” as an aggravation of sexual assault and not as a subtype of this crime.
“Today that there is a very clear offensive to knock down these rights, I want to say that we are going to continue defending the law of ‘only yes is yes’“, sentenced on Friday the Minister of Social Rights and Secretary General of Podemos, Ione Belarra, in an attempt to reinforce that her formation will not kneel – as they came to accuse the PSOE – before the pressure exerted by the most conservative sectors of In this sense, he pointed out that the support offered by the PP to the reform “evidence that the model that is included in this bill is the model of the Penal Code of ‘la Manada'”.
In addition, the purples have reproached their partners for considering the negotiations closed. Not once, but twice. The first when they unilaterally presented the bill (according to Podemos they found out from the media) and the second, throughout this week in which the conversations between the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, and Montero have been suspended. “They know that we have never gotten up from the negotiating table. Who has to return to the table is the PSOE”Belarra stressed.
The Socialists consider the talks between ministries closed and move the debate to Congress
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However, the Socialists have already turned the page. Since Friday, all the PSOE ministers have made it very clear that the negotiation is no longer between ministries or within the Executive, but between parliamentary groups. With the bill registered since Monday in the Lower House, the intention of the Socialists is to move the stage of the discussion from the Executive to Congress, in such a way that it ceases to be an internal controversy of the coalition and is extended to the rest of political formations.
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“Now we are in the parliamentary space and it is in the parliamentary space where the political forces will surely reach an agreement, because we are facing a very serious situation.“, asserted Llop. The same was said by the Minister of the Presidency, Felix Bolanosthe head of Defense, Daisy Roblesand even, Pedro Sanchez. With the negotiation in Congress, the tension in the Government is reduced and, in addition, it can increase the pressure on the purples if some of the usual parliamentary partners accept the PSOE proposals.
For now, the PNV and Ciudadanos have already announced that they will vote in favor of the processing of the norm in the first debate that, with a ruse by the Socialists, could arrive on Thursday or next. PP and vox They have also assured that they will not hinder this vote. Once this first approval is received, the reform will pick up speed and in just three weeks it could be approved by the plenary session of Congress. It will be in this period when, if there is not yet an agreement, the seams that unite PSOE and United We Can be more tense, since it will be time to amend the bill and the last chance to do it with consensus.