Somare began to lose patience with the Socialist Workers’ Party on the housing issue. Intervening in the real estate market and addressing child poverty or child support are key issues this term for the group led by Yolanda Díaz in government. About two months ago, the group’s ministers submitted a decree law requiring, among other things, the automatic extension of 300,000 lease contracts expiring in 2025, and the issue came up again in all the groups that were held this Saturday in Congress on the occasion of Constitution Day. Sommer talks about a “housing emergency.”
Those contracts concluded in 2020 that are about to expire did so when the Covid pandemic drove all prices down. The huge rise in recent years means that thousands of families now face a very delicate situation, for which Social Rights Minister Pablo Postenduy set a figure this week: increases of 30%, 40% or even 50%. The second deputy prime minister raised the stakes with the Socialist Workers’ Party on Saturday by announcing that she would submit the housing market intervention decree to the government’s Delegate Committee for Economic Affairs – a move ahead of the Council of Ministers. The intention is to force the socialists to define themselves, and that it should be, in any case, the economy, which is what was depicted and overturned the package of measures proposed by Soumare on 13 October.
Sumer’s anger is evident. In an informal conversation with journalists in Congress, Díaz admitted strong contradictions with the PSOE regarding taxes on Sosimi and referred to Minister Carlos Corbo’s position on housing as “neoliberal.”
The Vice President also announced that next week they will publicly present their budget proposal for next year. It will do so with the rest of the coalition parties, with those who have been working for months in an internal situation that they consider better than it was a few months ago, as several ministers admitted on Saturday.
“The Frog” from the multiple oud
Movimiento Sumar spokesman and head of culture, Ernest Urtasun, referred to the agreement between PP, PSOE and Junts with the approval of Vox, PNV and UPN to approve the law tightening multiple recidivism. “It’s a frog we have to swallow, but it was agreed upon in the investment agreement,” Urtasun noted in the same groups. The leader does not believe that this represents a turning point in the Legislative Council and is in no way resigned to presenting calculations that could also gain the support of Carles Puigdemont’s party.
In fact, next week Congress will vote on several key laws, including the Workers: Social Economy Act, one of the laws that Gonz saved from siege. Labor sources confirm that they are continuing to work on this issue. But if all goes as planned, the rule could be approved Tuesday in a committee with full legislative authority, meaning it would go directly to the Senate.
One other law that could fall on Thursday the 11th is the law of subordination. Two amendments to the entire PNV and Junts, if approved, would end the processing of the rule, but Minister Postendoi is confident of winning the vote. In his opinion, it is difficult for the PP to support the content of Junts’ articles, which is why he is confident that the process will be saved and that the law can finally be approved by the courts.
When asked about his aspirations within Somar, the Minister of Social Rights again excluded himself. “There is still a task ahead of us: reforming dependency, intervening in the housing market, and providing universal child-rearing subsidies. These three things will happen,” he predicted.