The Government saves Congress after the Junts order but fails with Venezuela

The parliamentary week began under the shadow of Carles Puigdemont, with his demand that Pedro Sánchez submit to a vote of confidence, and ended this Thursday with up and down moment for the Government. The legislature, the second decree of aid for those affected by the dana was validated, with the only vote against Vox.

The Government saves Congress

The investiture bloc worked to defeat the attempt of this last group and the PP to stop the reform of the gag law, and the rule to protect live organ donors was ready, after the rejection of an amendment that the popular party had approved in the Senate with its absolute majority.

The arrest of Nicolás Maduro

However, like three months ago, the Spanish Government was gridlocked on the issue of Venezuela. In this case, Junts, PNV and Canarian Coalition (CC) once again distanced themselves from the left and with their abstention allowed the Chamber to request the arrest of Nicolás Maduro.

The validation of the decree with another 3,765 million in aid to alleviate the Valencia catastrophe made it possible to attend an unusual white glove debate this Thursday in which the Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, came to thank the constructive tone of the criticism.

The discussion on the amendments to the entire reform of the Citizen Security law, known as gag law presented by PP and Vox. The very harsh debate revived old ghosts and came to light from the Franco regime to the communist regimes of the Soviet orbit. Ultra deputy Javier Ortega Smith even called the representatives of the left “drug addicts.”

The rejection of the proposals of the right at the state level reproduced to a millimeter the bloc that invested Sánchez, including Junts and CC. The reform continues and now it remains to transform this common rejection of the still current norm into a consensus on a new text. To do this, the Government will have to deal with the reluctance of the two groups least willing to close ranks, Junts and Podemos. Both consider the proposal initially agreed upon by the two parties of the Executive, ERC, EH Bildu, PNV and BNG, too timid.

The opposition to gag law

If the opposition to gag law strengthens what some call the “plurinational majority” around Sánchez, one of the issues that most clearly sows discord between its groups is the position on Venezuela. In that case, as in economic issues, the differences between right and left emerge. It already happened in September, when the Chamber, against the Government’s criteria and thanks to the fact that the PNV joined the state-level right-wing groups, approved a declaration recognizing the opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia as legitimate president.

This week the PP raised the issue of Venezuela and, although with much less noise than then, managed to once again inflict a parliamentary defeat on the Government.

Issue an arrest warrant against Maduro

The proposal basically sought to urge the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant against Maduro. She was defended last Tuesday by the person who has been serving as spokesperson for the PP in this matter, Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, who based her speech on an imitation of the I accuse by Émile Zola. And among the accused was, of course, the Government, branded as an “accomplice” of the “tyrant.”

Refuted by socialist Cristina Narbona

This accusation was refuted by socialist Cristina Narbona, who recalled that the Executive has promoted several international declarations condemning the Chavista regime.

The text, submitted this Thursday to the verdict of the plenary session, did not contain a direct censure of the Government. The substantial part of the non-law proposal, which was voted divided into four points, was the request for Maduro’s arrest and went ahead with the support of PP, Vox and UPN, added to the abstentions of Junts, PNV and CC.

The latter three expressly avoided voting on it, arguing that the CFI does not allow external organizations to condition its actions. They did give their support, however, to another point, also rejected by the left, which requires the Spanish Embassy in Caracas to send a report to Congress within a month on its efforts to free the imprisoned Spanish citizens. by the regime.

On Tuesday, at the beginning of the plenary session, the Government parties suffered another defeat, also because of the positions of Junts and PNV. Both voted against the consideration of a PSOE bill that sought to regulate the right to leave advance instructions on the care and medical treatment desired at the end of life. The two groups argued, among other reasons, that it invaded regional powers.