"Without Sumar there is no government": (symbolic) revolt on the left of the PSOE

BarcelonaThe ministers of Sumar refused to start the meeting until their demands were accepted: basically, to include the extension of rental contracts in the measures to face the war in Iran. Their two-hour walkout before Friday's cabinet meeting was resolved with the enactment of two decrees and not just one as the PSOE intended to include tax reductions for the most affected sectors. A resolution that Sumar has boasted about this Saturday, sending a dart to its socialist partners. "Without Sumar there is no government," recalled the coordinator of the movement, Lara Hernández, in a statement without questions. A threat to the socialists? The party still led by Yolanda Díaz has no intention of abandoning the executive or putting the coalition at risk in the face of the threat of a hypothetical majority between PP and Vox. In fact, Hernández herself has highlighted that it is precisely the influence that Sumar can have that makes it "worth being in government".

The minor victory of the coalition's junior partner will probably be symbolic, as the PP, Vox, and also Junts have shown themselves to be against the measures included in the second decree, which Pedro Sánchez accepted as a way to safeguard the executive's image. The Spanish Prime Minister limited himself on Friday to calling the information surrounding the walkout of the five Sumar ministers a "cesspool" and defended the two decrees as important. "Without Sumar, there are tax cuts, policies in favor of landlords, gifts to Repsol, and right-wing turns," Hernández criticized this Saturday, although the party is not expected to refuse to validate the measures when the time comes to vote on them in Congress. This unlikely scenario would indeed generate an unprecedented internal crisis, even if the decree were to go forward with the PP's votes.

Since they were published this Saturday morning in the Official State Gazette (BOE), the extension of rental contracts is once again in effect, which in recent months has been falling due to the opposition of the right-wing parties in Congress every time the social shield had to be validated. "More than one and a half million households" have begun to benefit from it, pointed out Hernández, who has committed to working to convince the parties that, for now, reject the measure. Antonio Maíllo, federal coordinator of Izquierda Unida —one of the formations integrated within Sumar— has insisted on the need to politically pressure those who oppose this decree: "We have to make those who want to boycott this decree sweat".

The extension of rental agreements

The decree on housing published this Saturday in the BOE sets two requirements regarding rental contracts. Firstly, it freezes those that expire before December 31, 2027, and secondly, it sets a maximum increase of 2% for the annual update in case of disagreement with the owner. The extension will have a maximum duration of two years, according to the decree, although it will have to be validated in Congress within a month and does not have the guaranteed majority to move forward. During these two years, the owner would be obliged to respect the established conditions, except if they need to repossess the flat within the assumptions stipulated by law.