The clash between Junts and Podem pushes Sánchez's majority in Congress to the limit
The lilacs raise the tone with accusations of "racism" and threaten to veto the immigration pact while the councilors trust in a rectification
Madrid / BarcelonaIt is no surprise that Junts and Podem are at opposite ends of the spectrum in a debate between the allies of Pedro Sánchez's investiture because the ideological differences are evident. It is also known that the two parties are fighting for the title of the main stumbling block of the Spanish government. The difficulties of the socialists to unite all the pieces that form the majority that the head of the Executive supports are permanent and the PSOE has more than assumed that it will have to live with this "complexity" until the end of the legislature, no matter how much it unblocks agreements such as the immigration pact with the junteros. In fact, when it seemed that the relationship of the socialists with those of Carles Puigdemont was straightening out and other files could be channeled such as the budgets or the reform of the immigration law for the distribution of immigrant minors, it is Podemos who has distanced itself from it with a warning that puts the agreement in danger, which has made it rise more than ever.
The purple formation, pursued for weeks by The scandal of Juan Carlos Monedero, It is strongly charged against Juntos. "I ask Junts to stop hiding its racism behind the legitimate aspirations of self-government of the people of Catalonia," said this Thursday at a party event the leader of Podemos, Ione Belarra, who has made it clear that they will clash with the No of the four purple deputies in the lower house, which would derail the delegation of powers to the Generalitat. Sources from the formation consulted by the ARA are adamant in this refusal. "In no way," they say, arguing that voting in favor would give wings to that "radicalized" discourse that Junts a X has deployed, in statements to the media and in the explanatory statement of the bill which they attribute to "their electoral competition with the Catalan Alliance."
"They should stop complaining about everything and make proposals," defended the spokesperson for Junts in Congress, Míriam Nogueras, on the same day. "Proposal number one: not to be racist," Belarra counterattacked X. This frontal opposition from the first moment left the secretary general of Junts, Jordi Turull, "perplexed", who the day after the lilacs proposed the veto, recommended that they read the rule and warned that he would reject a delegation of powers is what he said.
The dialectical confrontation goes beyond the party leaderships. Within the environment of both formations, the tone has increased even more. The journalist and writer Pilar Rahola, a confidant of Carles Puigdemont, accused Podemos of "son of a bitch". "Time and again it is shown that these post-communist dogmatists have never been in favour of the rights of the Catalan nation," she told X on Wednesday. The response of the former Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias is also high voltage, calling them "Zionists and racists more similar to the Spanish reactionaries than to anything else."
Is there a way out?
The Junts are taking the heat off the clashes that have taken place this week with Podemos and are taking it easy. "In Madrid, the dialogue is fluid, negotiations are taking place with all the parliamentary groups of Sánchez's majority," say sources from Junts. In this sense, they stress that they are "willing to negotiate" in the debate on the transfer law and see a "good horizon." However, although they are open to "accepting amendments to improve the law," they set a red line that they will not give in to "cut any competence" of those recognized by the current wording, but in any case to improve it. Podemos has emphasized the regularization of half a million undocumented immigrants, but Junts does not guarantee support and is simply open to studying the proposals when they receive them in exchange for the approval of the immigration transfer law and trusts that the law will go ahead.
Podemos explains that no negotiations have been opened at the moment and, in general, they limit the relationship with Junts to the exchange of some message or informal conversation within the framework of parliamentary courtesy. Sources from the purple formation draw a complicated scenario and predict a setback for the junteros because they say they are willing to make the left votes count. The socialists express confidence in the dialogue and frame the dispute between two of their partners in an attempt to mark a profile and occupy media space.
More clashes
Another recent and notorious clash between Junts and Podemos was over the permanent tax on energy companies that the lilacs demanded from the Spanish government. The refusal of Junts and the PNV to accept it The aim of the Belarra party was frustrated, as they attacked them by accusing them of being "Repsol's puppies" in Congress. In recent months, public friction has been increasing with Podemos for wanting to mark a profile against the influence of these two parties. Another disagreement, shortly after, was with the first No of Juntos in the omnibus decree that included the extension of the ban on evictions scratched out by Podemos in the Spanish government, which the junteros rejected with the scarecrow of illegal occupation. Finally, Junts accepted it after the PSOE agreed to allow the debate of the non-law proposal of the question of confidence - which they ended up withdrawing. Once again, Podemos took the opportunity to pressure the PSOE to stop looking to the right. "Juntos and Puigdemont want to be lions, but they are domesticated kittens," they said. The junteros, on the other hand, claim to be the interlocutor who most supports the position.
