A constructive and listening meeting. This is how the Government has defined the first meetings with its parliamentary partners to prepare the package of democratic regeneration that they plan to promote after the summer, when Congress resumes its activity after the summer break. PSOE and Sumar have received this Monday the PNV, EH Bildu, Podemos and the BNG in a first round of contact for this plan announced by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, last week.
In a speech in Congress, the head of the Executive outlined the main measures of a package of democratic regeneration to deepen the transparency of the administration and, especially, of the media. A plan that has its origins in the pause he took a few months ago to decide whether to continue in office, just when a judge opened an investigation against his partner, Begoña Gómez.
This very Monday, the same judge, Juan Carlos Peinado, decided to call Sánchez himself to testify as a witness, a move that the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, described after the meetings on Monday as a “merciless persecution” against the Government. The minister headed the meetings as a representative of the socialist part of the Government, while the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, attended on behalf of Sumar.
Both, as they agreed in a later appearance, went to Congress on Monday to explore with the groups “alternatives and formulas” to end up building what will be called “action plan for democracy”. “We have a shared interest in democracy being cleaner”, said Bolaños, who spoke of a “constructive and cordial” climate. Urtasun, meanwhile, has expressed his desire for this plan to be a “national agreement” that includes the voices of the rest of the parliamentary forces.
Most of the groups that have attended this round of consultations – tomorrow the PP, ERC and Coalición Canaria will do so – have welcomed the Government’s receptiveness to the measures they have proposed. The first have been the Basque nationalists, who have put forward a “constructive” attitude but at the same time have asked that this plan include the reform of the Law on Official Secrets of the Basque Group that is currently being processed in Congress,” according to sources from the party.
Immediately afterwards, the spokesperson for EH Bildu, Mertxe Aizpurua, spoke at the end of the meeting and spoke of an initial meeting in which no further details were given beyond “outlines and broad general lines”. Aizpurua told her interlocutors of her discomfort with the PSOE’s pacts with “those who make their existence about maintaining the regime of 1978”, in reference to the agreement between the socialists and the PP for the renewal of the Judiciary.
He also said that his priorities include regulating the media to combat hoaxes and fake news, in line with European regulations, as well as tools to combat lawfare, and other initiatives such as the repeal of the gag law and the law on official secrets, something that was also shared by the BNG spokesperson, Néstor Rego. “It is true that we have had good reception from the Government on issues that we have raised. We will continue working,” Aizpurua said.
Podemos asks the Government to break its pact with the PP
The meetings on Monday lasted about 30 minutes and served as a first contact with the other groups for the preparation of this plan. The talks will continue tomorrow with the other groups and during August the parties will exchange documents to continue formal talks starting in September, when parliamentary work will resume.
One of the most demanding parties on Monday was Podemos, which has asked the Government to break its pacts with the PP before continuing to talk about regeneration. “We have told them that the fundamental measure to advance democratic regeneration is to break the agreement with the PP,” said the party’s general secretary, Ione Belarra, after leaving the meeting, which she described as “disappointing.” “The PSOE has told us that it is determined to carry out this agreement. We find it unthinkable to think about regeneration measures if the Judiciary that has spied on us and is harassing the president’s family is being whitewashed,” she said.
Podemos has sent the Government a document in which, in addition to demanding a break with the PP and the renewal of the Judiciary, it requests an alternative modification of the governing body of the judges to “democratise it” and “avoid its spurious use”. The document includes the proposals that Belarra’s party has been making on this issue, which involve, first of all, reducing the majorities necessary for the election of the members of Congress so that an absolute majority is sufficient and not three-fifths as at present.
They also call for democratising access to the judicial career and, on the other hand, the complete repeal of the gag law, as well as the creation of a special team in the Police to “investigate the sewer network thoroughly to its ultimate consequences”.
Finally, Podemos calls on the Government to create a law to democratise the media system and another text on transparency in the media “so that citizens can know, with total transparency and as occurs with public officials, the economic interests of people who have high media power and who, therefore, can condition political decision-making”.
Source: www.eldiario.es
