He assures that it is not contemplated “under any circumstances” to govern with EH Bildu and sees “unacceptable” that victims’ websites include ETA prisoners
BILBAO, 16 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has assured that he is going to “propose a solution” to the “unwanted effects” of what is known as the ‘only yes is yes’ law, for which he has asked “forgiveness to the victims”. Likewise, it has indicated that the reform will be approved “with the support of the groups that are willing to respect the heart of the law but to resolve these undesired effects from a legal and technical point of view” and, if it can be counted “with the support of the right for the good of a feminist cause, welcome.”
In an interview published by the newspaper El Correo, collected by Europa Press, the Prime Minister defends the ‘only yes is yes’ law as “a good law that once again places Spain at the forefront of protecting victims of sexual assault on an absolutely comprehensive level”.
However, he admits that “there has indeed been an undesired effect”, with the sentence reductions or releases that it has entailed, which “neither the Executive nor the Legislative Branch contemplated” but that has to be “resolved”. Thus, he stresses that the proposal put forward by the Socialist Parliamentary Group for its reform is to “respect the heart of the law, respect consent as the central element of the law”, but, as he adds, it is necessary to “give an answer from the point of view of legal and technical point of view, not political”.
In any case, he specifies, “if we have to apologize to the victims, I apologize to the victims for these undesired effects.” “I believe that no deputy, even those who have voted against this law, is in favor of lowering the sentences. Therefore, I apologize to the victims and we are going to put a solution to these unwanted effects because it is the best way to defend the law itself,” he insists.
Regarding the support with which he plans to carry out the reform, he assures that “with the support of groups that are willing to respect the heart of the law but to resolve these undesired effects from a legal and technical point of view.” In this way, he assures that, “in the cases in which you can count on the support of the right if it is for the good of a feminist cause, such as correcting those undesired effects, it is welcome.”
On the other hand, he defends the agreement reached around the Housing Law, since it will allow transforming “into a constitutional right what for a large part of the citizenry, especially young people, is a real problem, such as access to housing “.
Regarding the criticism for having agreed with ERC and EH Bildu, the president stresses that the question is not why it is the nationalist parties that support the “social advances”, but that “all” have been achieved “with the PP against , despite the PP and without the PP”.
In another order of things, asked about the differences between his partners in the coalition government, he defends “respecting the autonomy” of Podemos and Sumar to “resolve their differences”, although he reiterates that his wish “from that respect” is that “the pieces fit the puzzle.
In his opinion, “if we want to rebuild everything that was broken during the decade of neoliberal response to the financial crisis and we want to consolidate the progress achieved for the benefit of the middle and working class of our country, Spain needs a decade of progressive policies.”
To do this, he assures that he would like to have “a larger majority” after the next general elections in order to have “a much stronger government.”
Faced with the criticism of the Popular Party for the agreements with EH Bildu, he specified that “the PSOE does not govern with Bildu and the PP does govern with Vox” and added that the socialists are “separated by an abyss” from the nationalist coalition and do not have “contemplated, under no scenario”, to govern with her. “A different question is that occasionally we can understand each other for social advances, such as the pension reform or the housing law,” he points out.
Likewise, he warns that there is “a great risk that after 28-M governments of the PP will be formed with Vox that will involute societies”, after the “changes” that have occurred in the year of the PP presidency of Alberto Núñez Feijóo. “They have agreed on the first coalition government with the extreme right in Castilla y León; they have gone from ‘no’ to abstention in the motion of no confidence and we have just seen in Doñana, that despite having an absolute majority, they converge with Vox to perpetrate this aggression,” he criticizes.
Regarding the relationship with the PNV, he stresses that there is a relationship “not only historical, but strategic” with the jeltzale formation that it does not have with EH Bildu.
He also refers to the demand of the Cantabrian communities on the Atlantic Corridor and points out that “when the presidents say it, there is some truth.” “It is true that for a long time we have dedicated ourselves to talking about the Mediterranean Corridor, but not about the Northern Corridor, and I believe that it is a backbone element from the territorial point of view, defining present and future competitiveness”, he points out.
In this sense, he assures, “as president of the Government of Spain”, that “they will have us by their side and we will fulfill our commitments before 2030 so that this corridor becomes a reality”.
On the other hand, questioned by the controversy that has arisen these days on the websites of victims of some municipalities that include ETA prisoners, he considers it “absolutely unacceptable” and adds that “what the Government of Spain has to do, and not only as institutional and legal duty, but also a commitment to the memory of the victims, is to respect the Law of Victims of Terrorism”.
For this reason, he explains, “the corresponding procedure as an administration” is being followed with a requirement for this situation to be corrected and, if this is not the case, “obviously” an appeal will be filed.
In relation to the situation in Catalonia, he points out that the proposal for clarity by the Aragonese president and ERC “politically demonstrates the enormous distance that separates us and, therefore, the importance of dialogue, of abandoning maximalist positions to reach agreements.”
Sánchez indicates that “no constitution in the world recognizes the right to secession” and appeals to the independence movement to be “honest” with Catalan society and recognize that “we must go to formulas of understanding and meeting in society.”
Finally, questioned about Ferrovial’s decision to move its headquarters to the Netherlands, he points out that this company “has made the decision the week in which we Spaniards began to make our Income Statement and the year in which we are registering a record foreign direct investment”. “Everyone who draws the conclusions they want,” he concludes.
