Pedro Sánchez looks forward to the contact round with the political groups. The intention of the incumbent president and candidate of the PSOE is not limited to gathering support for the investiture. It also aims to ensure the support of the nationalist and pro-independence parties for the next four years. A devilish sudoku in which no vote remains and many pieces are difficult to put together, due to the rivalry between ERC and Junts on the one hand and between PNV and EH Bildu, whose powers are even more complicated with the Basque elections on the horizon. .
The challenge is full of complications, but Sánchez has indicated in his first two meetings with his potential parliamentary allies, which began this Tuesday with BNG and PNV, that his goal is not limited to investing with such partners and for as long as possible to persevere. unpredictable like Carles Puigdemont. This is the scenario that the PP predicts: a short legislative period of two years in which the PSOE would be punished for the attrition of day-to-day management with its partners, combined with the PP’s absolute majority in the Senate and in power The territory was on March 28 amassed by Feijóo after gaining the presidency of 11 autonomous communities and dozens of city councils. “An investment agreement is not enough. The president doesn’t just seek this, he seeks legislative agreement. “We want a progressive agreement for the next four years,” said Patxi López, the socialist spokesman, clearly.
The PNV and BNG have reiterated their willingness to agree to invest in Sánchez, but both have insisted that their support cannot be taken for granted. It will depend on the negotiations that the teams of both parties will officially begin next week. November 27th is the deadline for Sánchez to be sworn in, otherwise there will be a repeat election on January 14th. The Basque nationalists, through their spokesman Aitor Esteban, have opened up to the possibility of a long-term pact much more than the BNG. “The fact that there is an investiture agreement and the government is denied budgets makes little sense. If you want to give him a chance with investiture, you have to give him the minimum tools so that the government can start its work. How will it evolve from there and will it last four years? When the investitures begin, it is with the intention that [las legislaturas] “The last four years,” Esteban noted this Tuesday after his meeting with Sánchez, which was also attended by María Jesús Montero, deputy secretary general of the PSOE and acting finance minister. Esteban appreciated her presence: “I think it’s good, I get along well with the Finance Minister, we’re both pretty direct.” And everyone knows that the Finance Ministry is the government within the government, it’s the one that gives permission [a las partidas presupuestarias] to the rest of the ministries.”
The BNG has shown itself ready to reach an agreement that includes its support for the next budgets, without going any further for now. Her only deputy, Néstor Rego, has limited the talks to an investiture pact, at least for now.
After receiving the order to participate in the investiture, Sánchez already explained his position on October 3: “We will work to articulate in Congress not only a majority in favor of investiture, but also a majority of the legislature that unites Spain Government and stability for the country for the next four years.” No one will be fooled and, with a legislative period expected to be even more complex than the last, the approval of the 2024 budget would ensure that the PSOE will be in co-operation for at least three years Sumar rules. The guarantee of support for the 2025 state bill would also give them a cushion to be able to complete the legislative session with the following expanded budgets in the worst-case scenario. These are the calculations of sources from Ferraz and La Moncloa, who emphasize that they intend to approve them on time, each fiscal year, as in the last legislative session.
The PSOE leadership emphasizes that the evidence suggests that Sánchez’s inauguration is the only one that has options to move forward – Feijóo has the base of 172 votes from which he started when he accepted the mandate of Felipe VI. received, not expanded – this is because the negotiators from the various parties met in the following weeks to deal with the fine print of the agreements. The acting president will take care of holding the meetings with the remaining groups except Vox on Wednesday and Friday: this Wednesday he will meet with UPN, Canarian Coalition and ERC. And he will leave the most unpleasant pictures with EH Bildu and Junts until after the national holiday. Feijóo, on the other hand, only met with Vox, Canarian Coalition and UPN during the contact round regarding his failed investiture.
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Not even the slightest idea
True to its style, the PNV exercises discretion and announces that it will not give the slightest hint as to what the negotiations will be about. His spokesman did not even reveal whether Sánchez expressed his commitment to a legislative pact explicitly or between the lines. “I can imagine that his goal is to stay for four years,” said Esteban, but refused to talk about a legal agreement because “it would be a mistake to put labels now.” “Step by step,” stressed he. The Basque MP has sent a warning to Sánchez: the unease with the treatment of the PSOE in the last part of the last legislative period, in which the PNV and other parties accuse the Socialists of having negotiated fairly: “There is an important issue.” is: How will we function as investiture moves forward? Because the experience of the last section of the pass was not at all satisfactory for us. I already said it at the last investiture: everyone must know what is possible and not interfere in each other’s election programs and force their way to a few votes. That wouldn’t work here either.”
For its part, the BNG called for a “fairer” financing model with Galicia and an increase in state investments, given the “historic deficit”, especially in the upcoming railway infrastructure, such as the connection between Santiago and Lugo. Rego placed particular emphasis on the need to complete the pending transfers provided for in the Statute of Autonomy. As for the possibility of changing the state structure, the BNG spokesman called for the same treatment and status for Galicia as the Basque and Catalan nationalists and independents, although he admitted that any initiative in this regard should come from Parliament. where the PP now has an absolute majority.
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