KING Felipe VI's annual Christmas Eve speech once again included a covert appeal to secessionist politicians, as well as raising concerns about young adults' struggle to afford housing and violence against women.
PSOE and Podemos struggle to break stalemate as investiture looms
22/07/2019
DEBATES have opened in Congress ahead of the presidential investiture ceremony scheduled for Tuesday, and left-wing Podemos and the PSOE (socialists) have still to reach an agreement about either governing in coalition or the former voting for the latter to go ahead in a minority.
PSOE leader and acting president Pedro Sánchez (pictured) has made some concessions in his programme to accommodate Podemos, including pledging to spend a minimum of 5% of the GDP on education, whatever the state of the economy; lifting the minimum monthly wage for a full-time job to €1,200 by the end of his term of office – scheduled for May 2023 – and to protect 'Madrid Central', the car-free heart of the capital which is now under threat from the new right-wing city council, and to extend it to all cities and large towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants.
Sánchez has promised, on his own initiative, to bring a State Housing Law into effect to halt 'abusive increases in rent prices', to guarantee State pensions will go up annually by at least the rate of inflation, and to abolish the so-called 'Gagging Law' brought in by the previous right-wing government and in which demonstrations and protests not given written permission from provincial authorities could see their organisers fined up to €600,000.
All of these measures are among top priorities for Podemos.
In his opening speech of the investiture debate, Sánchez spoke of the urgent need for a Europe-wide policy on migration to prevent more deaths in the Mediterranean, praising the work of the Spanish coastguard which rescues immigrant rafts off the country's southern coasts.
Sánchez also wants to set up a 'work experience statute' to protect graduates and college-leavers who undertake internships in companies to learn the profession they want to enter, and which are frequently unpaid.
Podemos' leader Pablo Iglesias has agreed not to press the issue of his being deputy president – something Sánchez would not support – but in exchange wants a third of the cabinet about to be formed to be made up of Podemos MPs.
Sánchez appeared open to this, but Iglesias has criticised him for not offering 'anything of substance' for the latter's party to be in charge of, since Sánchez insists on the PSOE's being in control of policies such as the minimum wage, free schooling for the under-threes and reducing electricity bills.
Iglesias accused Sánchez of offering him a 'merely decorative rôle' as deputy president, which Sánchez denies.
The two left-wing leaders also disagree over the Catalunya independence issue – Sánchez insists 'there are no political prisoners in Spain', referring to the regional politicians who have been in jail since October 2017 for organising a disputed referendum on secession – whilst Iglesias says Catalunya 'does not deserve' to be 'constantly threatened' by a national government or 'kept behind a wall', believes the stalemate can be resolved by 'open discussion' and insists it 'can wait'.
Catalunya is, according to Iglesias, merely a weapon and an excuse used by the right wing to justify its refusal to support Sánchez's presidential bid.
Sánchez, speaking of the negotiations which have been non-stop since Friday, said: “We come from two very different left-wing traditions and are finding out that it is not easy to reach a point of consensus.
“But nothing which is worth the effort is simple, and what we have in front of us is worth the effort.”
Iglesias urges Sánchez to 'listen to the electorate' and put all his energy into reaching an agreement between them for the left wing to govern Spain.
Main opposition parties - centre-right Ciudadanos, the right-wing PP and the far-right Vox – have all announced their intentions to vote 'no' to Sánchez as president in the investiture ceremony.
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DEBATES have opened in Congress ahead of the presidential investiture ceremony scheduled for Tuesday, and left-wing Podemos and the PSOE (socialists) have still to reach an agreement about either governing in coalition or the former voting for the latter to go ahead in a minority.
PSOE leader and acting president Pedro Sánchez (pictured) has made some concessions in his programme to accommodate Podemos, including pledging to spend a minimum of 5% of the GDP on education, whatever the state of the economy; lifting the minimum monthly wage for a full-time job to €1,200 by the end of his term of office – scheduled for May 2023 – and to protect 'Madrid Central', the car-free heart of the capital which is now under threat from the new right-wing city council, and to extend it to all cities and large towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants.
Sánchez has promised, on his own initiative, to bring a State Housing Law into effect to halt 'abusive increases in rent prices', to guarantee State pensions will go up annually by at least the rate of inflation, and to abolish the so-called 'Gagging Law' brought in by the previous right-wing government and in which demonstrations and protests not given written permission from provincial authorities could see their organisers fined up to €600,000.
All of these measures are among top priorities for Podemos.
In his opening speech of the investiture debate, Sánchez spoke of the urgent need for a Europe-wide policy on migration to prevent more deaths in the Mediterranean, praising the work of the Spanish coastguard which rescues immigrant rafts off the country's southern coasts.
Sánchez also wants to set up a 'work experience statute' to protect graduates and college-leavers who undertake internships in companies to learn the profession they want to enter, and which are frequently unpaid.
Podemos' leader Pablo Iglesias has agreed not to press the issue of his being deputy president – something Sánchez would not support – but in exchange wants a third of the cabinet about to be formed to be made up of Podemos MPs.
Sánchez appeared open to this, but Iglesias has criticised him for not offering 'anything of substance' for the latter's party to be in charge of, since Sánchez insists on the PSOE's being in control of policies such as the minimum wage, free schooling for the under-threes and reducing electricity bills.
Iglesias accused Sánchez of offering him a 'merely decorative rôle' as deputy president, which Sánchez denies.
The two left-wing leaders also disagree over the Catalunya independence issue – Sánchez insists 'there are no political prisoners in Spain', referring to the regional politicians who have been in jail since October 2017 for organising a disputed referendum on secession – whilst Iglesias says Catalunya 'does not deserve' to be 'constantly threatened' by a national government or 'kept behind a wall', believes the stalemate can be resolved by 'open discussion' and insists it 'can wait'.
Catalunya is, according to Iglesias, merely a weapon and an excuse used by the right wing to justify its refusal to support Sánchez's presidential bid.
Sánchez, speaking of the negotiations which have been non-stop since Friday, said: “We come from two very different left-wing traditions and are finding out that it is not easy to reach a point of consensus.
“But nothing which is worth the effort is simple, and what we have in front of us is worth the effort.”
Iglesias urges Sánchez to 'listen to the electorate' and put all his energy into reaching an agreement between them for the left wing to govern Spain.
Main opposition parties - centre-right Ciudadanos, the right-wing PP and the far-right Vox – have all announced their intentions to vote 'no' to Sánchez as president in the investiture ceremony.
Related Topics
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