“Your Honor, make no mistake. This is the left. Support the left too,” he responded. Pedro Sanchez has Ione Belarraleader of Podemos, Wednesday during the government control session of the plenary session of Congress.
The president could not help but show notable displeasure, because the person who questioned him about corruption was a spokesperson for a left-wing party and, moreover, one of those he an urgent need for approve budgets and keep the legislative branch alive.
Sánchez has already taken the measure of the PP opposition and referred to corruption on the right and harsh criticism from the far right, but it is more difficult for him when questioned on the left, as threatened Belarra on Wednesday.
The president continues to take advantage of the rejection that the union of the PP and Vox provokes among the rest of the parties to maintain the essential support to continue or, at least, to prevent his investiture partners from revolting against him for the moment.
This is what Gabriel Rufián (ERC) called in certain debates the “malmenorism“, that is to say the security with which socialists take for granted that there is no way of removing them from the government, in a sort of “infinite tie“due to the lack of alternative majorities.
The problem for Sánchez is that, as several spokespersons for the inauguration parties explain, everything that is happening considerably weakens the president and his government. For now, they do not intend to join the PP against Sánchez for corruption, but they are beginning to fear that the wave will sweep them away in the event of new revelations.
What they are proposing, for the moment, is the direct application to their benefit of one of the mottos invoked by Sánchez to justify his decisions: “Make a virtue of necessity“That is to say, taking advantage of the president’s situation of growing political weakness for the current negotiations, in particular that of the budget.
It has become very clear that Sánchez almost desperately needs to execute the 2025 General State Budget at the beginning of this year, already after the deadline, to be able to maintain Parliament almost until the end.
Increase the price
These budget votes almost look like a question of confidence for Sánchez. If you don’t agree with them, you can theoretically move forward, but you will be further weakened by a political and legal ordeal. However, if he approves them, he will have oxygen for a long time, as the leader of the PP, Elías Bendodo, admitted in a closed meeting with officials of his party.
The president and his team tried for months to downplay those budgets, insisting he could govern by extending current budgets from 2023, but he failed to do so. Among other things because he showed anxiety during the withdrawal to the extreme the path of spending to negotiate with Junts and skip the timetable provided by the Constitution to delay the budgets while waiting for the congresses of the party of Carles Puigdemont and the ERC.
And when a negotiation is undertaken with some anxiety and desperation, the other side always has the option of raising the price, according to a veteran socialist MP.
Maria Jesus Montero He is already negotiating spending limits and migration powers with Junts; Bildu takes advantage of this with issues such as “gag law“and awaits further action from the government; the ERC needs progress on the agreement reached with the CPS to invest Salvador Illathe one who wins at his congress; The PNV negotiates questions of commercial policy and powers and Podemos begins budgetary negotiations with the entire free left.
They all see weakness, they feel Sánchez’s political wounds and they want to take advantage of it, as they explain.
The most difficult thing, according to the socialists, is still to convince Junts, but at least they do not feel a sense of rupture in the various contacts with the separatists, including that last weekend between Carles Puigdemont and Santos Cerdán, performing the monthly rite of the trip of the head of the Organization of the PSOE.
Podemos Secretary General Ione Belarra stressed on Saturday that her party would withdraw its support for the government if Sánchez did not break relations with Israel and agree to regulate rent prices by law. Measures that could conflict with the political positions of the Junts.
In Moncloa there is a lot of concern because the housing issue is starting to fall on the government and we can see a movement in the streets which, in a certain way, recalls the embryo of 15-M. And then, the terrible management of the “space unit to the left of the PSOE” left part of this electorate out of reach of the socialists and Sumar. This disaffected and unhappy social sector is an orphan, for those who want it and can.
Gestures and tips
Sánchez, specialist in gestures and tricks to maintain his mythical resilience, will have to put the pieces to the test with a hammer and, above all, the reactions that the acceptance of these requests will provoke.
His extreme need forces him to accept a high price. The more the need, the higher the price.
In addition, Sánchez needs these partners to have a more bearable political life, to maintain a parliamentary umbrella that stops the deluge of scandals. For example, to stop plenary sessions on corruption or to avoid having to respond to parties other than the PP and Vox on these scandals. For example, Podemos.
Socialists are worried about what could emerge from the summary of corruption cases, in particular that which keeps the commission agent Víctor de Aldama in prison for alleged accusations fraud in the hydrocarbon tradein case any implications arise from other ministries, in addition to Transport and Interior for the Koldo affair.
For this reason, Moncloa sources explain that they are not able to hand over the head of the State Attorney General, Álvaro Garcia Ortiz. They are convinced that there is nothing punishable, but they admit that if Sánchez were stronger, he could accept it as a political cleansing gesture forcing him to resign until the investigation is resolved. But he can’t afford it like that. May Álvaro García continue It is not a gesture of strength, but of weaknessas explained by a parliamentary partner of Sánchez.
Álvaro García is his red line of resistance, also to launch a message to the Supreme Courtwith whom he already has the pulse of the amnesty law, and with whom new clashes could open up in the future.
That same Wednesday, during the control session of Congress, Sánchez experienced what is called a turning point in his career at excuse corruptionafter years of boasting about having no scandals in his career and having a clean government. Something broke on Wednesday in his biography and now the news will refer, for example, to the accusation of his right-hand man, José Luis Ábalos.
He will have to get used to the fact that, as happened last Friday, his visit to the pope show of his efforts to end the war in the Middle East is tarnished by questions and headlines about corruption. That The economist, Bloomberg and other international media are talking about it. And at the PSOE, we are starting to ask questions about certain things that have happened over the last six years.
