Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez suffered a setback on Wednesday in the first key parliamentary vote of his new parliament, underscoring the extreme weakness of the parliamentary alliance that restored him to the post in November.
Votes on the three ordinances were close, with lawmakers passing two by narrow margins (172-171).
The first plenary session of the year was asked to vote on three decrees adopted by Spain’s leftist government in late December, which needed parliamentary approval within a month.
The first bill passed concerned the functioning of the judicial system and Spain’s public administration, and was a measure 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.
Lawmakers were initially deadlocked over the third and most important decree, extending measures to help households cope with rising inflation by curbing the costs of food and public transport.
However, in a second vote a few hours later, the bill passed with a huge margin of 172 votes in favor and 171 votes against.
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.
~A capricious ally~
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.
Faced with the prospect of a humiliating setback, the government even reached out to right-wing opposition leader and Popular Party (PP) leader Alberto Nuñez Feijó, only to be rudely rejected.
“Regardless of the final result of the vote, the government has made a fool of itself by negotiating with the rights of all Spaniards,” Feijoo said, furious after the first vote, accusing Sanchez of prioritizing the separatists. denounced.
“Spain does not deserve this kind of disgraceful mismanagement. We do not deserve this kind of politics, this dishonor, this humiliation.”
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.
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 two of the three documents.