Sanchez and the leader of the opposition end a poor meeting

USPA NEWS - The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchez, held a meeting this Friday with the president of the conservative Popular Party, Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, in the Congress of Deputies. The meeting in the Lower House of the Spanish Parliament is the first between the head of the Executive and the leader of the opposition since Pedro Sanchez was sworn in as president of the Government of the XV Legislature on November 16.

After the meeting, proposed by the President of the Government, the Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government spokesperson, Pilar Alegria, detailed at a press conference in La Moncloa palace the issues that Pedro Sanchez and Alberto Nuñez Feijoo addressed. Alegría confirmed that, to try to unblock once and for all the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), the meeting agreed on a formula for "the European Commission to mediate and verify," because "anything that involves reestablishing institutional normality and that the PP complies with the Constitution will be more than welcome." "We are convinced that this agreement is a magnificent starting point. We appreciate that the PP is finally open to an agreement to renew the Judiciary after five years of paralyzing its renewal," she stressed.

In addition, the Executive spokesperson announced the agreement with the PP to modify article 49 of the Constitution so that the term “disabled” disappears from legal texts. Regarding the reform of the regional financing system, Pilar Alegría explained that the President of the Government transferred to the Popular Party the possibility of studying it at a work table. "We regret that Feijoo has said no," said the minister.

"Lost opportunity"

For his part, the president of the conservative Popular Party complained about the lost opportunity to return to the constitutional path because what he had proposed to him were previous commitments of the PSOE. “The equality of Spaniards, judicial independence, the neutrality of the institutions and compliance with our word are key for us. I do not come here to play with the interests of my country, but to serve it,” Feijoo said.

He acknowledged that little was achieved in this meeting because he did not see in the President of the Government a desire for rectification, since the room for maneuver to reach agreements "is what his independence partners grant him." “For a constitutionalist it is very difficult to reach agreements with Sanchez,” he added. He proposed including the European Commission in the negotiation to renew the governing body of judges (CGPJ) because it is a “Spanish institution to which a good part of the sovereignty has been transferred”, and simultaneously change the Organic Law of the Judiciary (LOPJ) to “supervise” that both requirements are met.

Feijoo obtained a positive response to modify article 49 of the Constitution, with the textuality and conditions agreed upon by the conservative Popular Party and the Socialist Party a few months ago, without in any case taking the opportunity to hold a referendum. He assured that the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchez, also rejected his proposal to guarantee neutrality in the institutions, after the "unbearable trickle" of appointments, which are more typical of a "PSOE placement agency than of a Government that is owes its citizens.”

He demanded respect for the professionalism of the judges, that they not allow them to be insulted or threatened, that they stop the commission of inquiry that the independence supporters want and that the regulations of Congress be modified so that they do not have to appear. And he raised the need to restore respect to the judges, as well as conveying the Popular Party's distrust in the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, previous interlocutor in the entire CGPJ renewal process, because his party wants to do so with guarantees of independence.