Afternoon, the first vice-president of Congress, the socialist Alfonso Rodriguez Gomez de Celisthe minister Felix Bolanosthe vice president Yolanda Diaz and the Secretary of State Rafael Simancasvisibly in a hurry, counted the deputies in the hemicycle to check with some anxiety if there were enough votes to validate the decree on RTVE.
The bell which is used to announce the imminence of a vote has rung. In his blue seat, the minister proposing the standard, Oscar Lopez He mocked the risk that it would be impossible to validate the decree which serves to change the system of election of RTVE council members and this could mean that, for the first time, there will be no representation of the opposition in this area. institution.
The government insisted on proceeding with this hasty vote, although it still had two weeks to validate the standard, ignoring demands for a cessation of political hostilities following the dead, missing and affected by DANA. At that time, the official death toll was already 51 dead.
The PP and Vox deputies had refused to participate because the president of the Congress, Francine Armengolagreed to suspend all other activities of the House, with the exception of the agenda item on RTVE, which was hastily submitted to the Government.
Armengol, supported by the government and with the reluctant support of its partners, ended the PP’s demand for total control of the Executive, suspended the activity of a multitude of congressional commissions and even suspended an event scheduled for the afternoon to honor the victims of Franco’s regime. Everything, except the vote to validate the controversial decree.
As a sign of protest, the PP and Vox decided not to participate in the debate and vote on the standard, which risked not being able to be achieved. presence of the quorum of half plus one of the deputies required by the Regulations. In the end, 176 deputies participated, a sufficient number, with only one against, and the quorum was reached thanks to the telematic votes of deputies absent from the Chamber.
Only three members of the government were present, partly because almost all the others were participating in meetings aimed at dealing with the devastating effects of DANA and could not attend the Congress. But Moncloa insisted on moving forward, taking the risk of an immense parliamentary slip-up.
Óscar López and the rest of the government members breathed a sigh of relief at the close vote result. They gained in validation, but they lost in the public image, as recognized by members of the government and also some of their parliamentary partners, who explain privately that they were dragged down by the haste of Moncloa .
Some spokesmen told socialists they should celebrate the vote could not be understood by the citizens. But the PSOE ignored it.
Shortened speeches
A few minutes before the debate, Minister Óscar López was urgently summoned to the government area by Félix Bolaños and Yolanda Díaz to ask him to try to make a very short and neutral intervention to successfully complete the procedure, given the circumstances. He did so and some spokespeople, all supportive, shortened their speeches and even intervened from their seats to lighten things up.
The ministers present justify themselves by explaining that one thing is the executive functions, that is to say those of control of the Government which required the presence of the Executive in the House and the confrontation with the opposition on one day too special, and another is the legislative ones, which only affect the activity of the deputies.
However, Armengol suspended all legislative activity of the committees and even the afternoon institutional event. And shortly after the president of the government announced decision to declare three days of mourningwhich means the closure of Congress this Thursday.
But the decree has already been validated and the list of new RTVE advisors drawn up by the PSOE with its partners was presented, without the presence of the PP, the party having obtained the most votes in the Chamber and which leads the opposition. The Government and its partners have already taken control of public radio and television, which is what we were talking about.
The Government explains that the PP only thought of requesting the suspension of the plenary session when it had already asked two questions to the ministers harshly and with reference to Iñigo Errejón and corruption. “It was not a day to debate RTVE, but it was a day to attack Errejón,” declared a minister to justify his position and reject that of the PP.
In the meantime, there was a difficult meeting of the Council of Spokespersons in which the PP was accused of wanting to interrupt the plenary session to prevent the approval of the decree. “Parliamentary obstruction,” they said.
Aitor Esteban, of the PNV, argued that the PP should have requested the suspension at the start of the plenary. While other government partners, such as Miriam Nogueras (Together) and Ione Belarra (We may) have doubts about holding the session, as the PSOE insisted. “The workers work, so the MPs must also work,” the socialist spokesperson said angrily during the closed-door meeting. Patxi Lopez.
In this sense, some Government officials vehemently defended in the corridors the holding of the vote, wondering if the deputies were going to vote. “collect water with buckets” in the affected area.
Finally, it was debated and voted on in the presence of only the deputies of the investiture bloc, sad in some cases at what the Government led them to do. Because, in addition, shortly after the announcement of official mourning and the total closure of the Congress, this Thursday, came the Moncloa.
The decree is already validated and hidden behind the waters that devastated part of Spain.
