Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez suffered a setback on Wednesday in his first major parliamentary vote, underscoring the extreme weakness of the parliamentary alliance that restored him as prime minister in November.
The votes on three ordinances were close, but only one was passed by lawmakers by the narrowest of margins (172-171).
In the first plenary session of the year, lawmakers were asked to vote on three decrees adopted by Spain’s left-wing government in late December, which needed parliamentary approval within a month.
The measures passed concern the functioning of the judicial system and Spain’s public administration, and were requested by Brussels to unblock 10 billion euros ($11 billion) of European funds.
A second decree on unemployment benefits was rejected after five members of the radical left-wing Podemos party voted against it.
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But on the third and most important decree, on extending measures to help households cope with rising inflation by curbing the costs of food and public transport, lawmakers deadlocked 171-171 within hours. was forced to re-vote.
The Socialist prime minister faced an uphill battle after seven hard-line Catalan separatist MPs from ZXCat and five from Podemos pledged to oppose the measure.
“There is no reason, no political outlook, no ideology that can justify not supporting our people, our families, our factories,” Socialist Cabinet Secretary Felix Bolanos opened the debate.
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After an inconclusive general election in July left Congress dysfunctional, Sanchez finally succeeded in putting together a working coalition government and returned to power in November for a four-year term.
After months of negotiations, JX Cat backed Mr. Sánchez last year in exchange for an amnesty law for controversial people wanted by the judicial system in connection with Catalonia’s failed bid for independence in 2017. Agreed.
In recent days, his minority coalition of the Socialist Party and the hard-left Schmar has struggled to negotiate a way to avoid defeat, particularly with JXCAT, whose leader Karl Puigdemont lives in exile in Belgium.
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Faced with the prospect of a humiliating setback on Wednesday, the government even contacted the main right-wing opposition party, the Popular Party (PP), whose leader Alberto Nuñez Feijó said it would “not take part in any rescue”. answered. of Pedro Sanchez. ”
On Wednesday, ZXCat showed what a difficult and unpredictable ally it is.
“We have to accept that we don’t have a majority,” Miriam Nogueras of JxCat told Sanchez during the debate.
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In exchange for the votes of seven members, JxCat demanded that parts of the judicial order be removed, saying they could jeopardize the amnesty law currently being passed by Congress.
They also called on the government to penalize companies that moved their headquarters outside Catalonia during the independence crisis.
In the end, JxCat’s seven MPs did not participate in the vote and allowed approval of one of the three documents.
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