The PSOE bench held its breath on Wednesday while the president of Congress, Francina Armengol, announced the result of the vote on the first of the three decrees that were submitted for validation that day. Except for the small hard core that was aware, the vast majority of deputies were unaware that in a negotiation taken “to the limit” an agreement had been reached with Junts that allowed its approval in exchange for the transfer of immigration powers to Catalonia. . They found out when they heard about the 172 yeses versus 171 noes.
Before reaching the maximum peak of tension of the day, the members of the Socialist Group in the Lower House had been informed through the WhatsApp group that they share that the conversations were continuing, without going into the details of them. “Hope was not lost at any time, but in parallel work had already begun on plan b,” say party sources consulted by THE WORLD.
That alternative would have consisted of the call on Thursday of an extraordinary Council of Ministers to re-approve the decrees already passed through the sieve of the demands raised by all the parties with representation in Congress – with the exception of the PP, Vox and UPN – to allow approval. The competent ministerial teams got to work to modify the texts while the head of the Presidency and Justice portfolio, Felix Bolañoscontinued trying to tie up in extremis the support of the Junts spokesperson, Miriam Nogueras.
Once the agreement had been signed without the socialist deputies even having knowledge of it, the information was leaked that the vote of the group of Carles Puigdemont It was going to be no. If so, then the accounts didn’t work out. After a few minutes of confusion that seemed eternal to more than one, the count finally confirmed that the post-convergents were abstaining. The team of Pedro Sanchez He had saved the fight of the independentistas, which allowed him to approve the decree on Justice and Public Function and the one on anti-crisis measures, but he lost that of Podemos, which ended up overturning the one relating to unemployment benefits.
“The Government has taken note that everything must be negotiated,” say sources from the PSOE, whose deputies in Congress have, in turn, been given the instruction that they have to “dialogue, dialogue and dialogue” with all the parties. groups, “starting with the PP.” “We have to slow down, we cannot always be at the limit,” they warn.