At the end of the year, Pedro Sánchez resumed the mini-crisis of the government that had been planned for weeks to replace the position vacated by Nadia Calviño, the new president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), an old tradition that only began in the In recent years, the gold of non-partisanship has emerged. For the first time in more than 20 years, the number two executive will also be the number two party leading the government. Because Calviño will be replaced in the portfolio by Carlos Cuerpo, but this change will be accompanied by the promotion of María Jesús Montero, deputy secretary general of the PSOE and finance minister, to first vice president of the government. Montero will therefore be Sánchez's left and right hand.
An extraordinary accumulation of power with which the socialist leader further strengthens the political and partisan profile of the executive and for which there were only two precedents in Spanish politics: Alfonso Guerra with Felipe González in the eighties and Francisco Álvarez-Cascos with José María Aznar in the late 1980s nineties. “Our economic successes and the strengthening of the welfare state would not have been possible without the intense and brilliant work of Montero since June 2018,” Sánchez praised them after welcoming Felipe VI. had communicated the government's explicit reorganization. Alberto Núñez Feijóo criticized him for “confusing the government and the party,” and the PP stated that this election showed that Sánchez had opted for a “trench government” whose main goal was to clash with the opposition.
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Félix Bolaños was the member who emerged most strengthened from the composition of the Cabinet that Sánchez assembled on November 20, four days after his inauguration. His status as super-minister of the presidential office, judiciary and judicial relations effectively made him a kind of shadow vice president. But the president recognized Montero even then and added the fourth vice president's stripes to her; and also Pilar Alegría, whose responsibilities as Minister of Education also included sport and government spokeswoman. Sánchez then gave an insight into his plans: the proof of the long-term perspective with which he expected Calviño's appointment to the EIB was the instrumental creation of a fourth vice-presidency, whose duration was not even 40 days and which served as a springboard for Montero's rise to the first Vice Presidents.
“It is a gift that no one ever expected and that must be interpreted as motivation and incentive, as an encouragement to continue working for this country project that we have been building for five years,” thanked Montero. The Deputy Secretary General of the PSOE, among her many facets, will also be the one who chairs the Council of Ministers when the President is on a trip abroad, which happens very often. Giving such power to Yolanda Díaz, the second vice president and leader of Sumar, was not an option for Ferraz and La Moncloa. However, no one in the government doubts that Montero's relationship with the coalition's minority partner will be better than the one Calviño had with the labor minister, with whom he had significant disagreements. Díaz congratulated Montero and Corpus “on their new responsibilities” and said he was “convinced” that the PSOE and Sumar will continue to “work diligently to achieve social justice” and “continue to defend the workers.”
The resignation of Adriana Lastra as deputy general secretary of the PSOE in July 2022 for personal reasons accelerated Montero's rise up the socialist ladder, who had until then focused his energies on the Finance Ministry. Montero is part of the select group of six experienced ministers from Sánchez's first government in 2018: the outgoing Calviño (Economy), Teresa Ribera (ecological transition), Margarita Robles (Defense), Fernando Grande-Marlaska (Interior) and Luis Planas ( Agriculture). ). ). The first two rose to the rank of vice presidents in the coalition with Unidas Podemos. With the formation of the progressive PSOE government under Sumar, it is Montero's turn. Calviño hailed the promotion of Montero as a “great success,” to whom he handed over the first vice-presidential portfolio. Her support was undeniable: “She is my twin sister, my sister, and together we have managed economic policies that will go down in the history books.”
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In addition to expanding his functions, Montero will coordinate the government's economic policies. The “Vice-Double”, as some call her, is characterized by her conversational style, but does not shy away from arguments when the occasion calls for it. The last time he got his fang out was ten days ago when a PP senator called the vice presidents groupies. The following day, the Association of Parliamentary Journalists (APP) awarded him the “Scourge of the Opposition” award. Their skills were tested in short distances with the press and in relationships with the constellation of government partners. He was part of the negotiating team of the executive with the parliamentary groups for the investiture of Sánchez, but did not appear in the most sensitive photos – with the spokesmen of Junts and EH Bildu – and he appeared at the signing of the pacts with Ana Pontón (BNG) and Cristina Valido (Canary Coalition).
María José Montero (left) receives the portfolio from Nadia Calviño, First Vice President of the Government and Finance Minister Jaime Villanueva on Friday
The first big test for the vice president will be the approval of the 2024 budget plans, which are already late. Montero hopes to advance it in the first quarter, which would give the government a boost of oxygen worth at least half a term. Fiscal consolidation is another mantra of the executive, especially when Brussels' flexibility is waning: the 3% deficit target is within reach, but another story is the public debt, which, even if it is reduced to 106% of GDP, will always The targets dictated by Europe (60%) are still light years away.
The reform of the regional financing system that has been pending since 2014 appears to be much more complicated. Firstly, because the PP presides over eleven municipalities and Feijóo prefers to delegate to his territorial barons, who have very different positions, rather than aiming for a common position. “It seems that this government is designed exclusively for the voters of one party,” criticized the PP leader in an interview on Servimedia this Friday. “The government must be the government of all. “If you confuse government and party, party and government, you send a message to society: there will be a lot of partisanship, little general interest and a lot of ideological approach,” he added.
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