The phones between Moncloa and Sumar do not stop ringing. The tension between the government partners has reached one of its highest points ahead of this Friday's vote in Congress on the two housing decrees, threatened by Junts' no vote. In Yolanda Díaz's space, the conviction is growing that, if the Executive is unable to push through measures it considers central to its agenda, the legislature will have entered a new phase.
Under this context, internal sources from the Sumar space tell ElConstitucional.es that there is deep discomfort and that conversations with Moncloa have intensified in recent hours. "The phones are burning," these sources summarize, placing the accumulated exhaustion of recent weeks at one of its most intense moments.
In this scenario, Sumar could prepare a broader political move: to point Pedro Sánchez towards an early general election if the two housing decrees fall this Friday.
The pressure, according to the same sources, no longer comes solely from Sumar deputies. It would also be extending to the party sector that is part of the Government. The thesis gaining weight within the space is that maintaining the legislature under current conditions may cease to make political sense if the Executive fails to approve measures considered priorities by its own partners.
Bustinduy will face the debate with an electoral speech
The intervention that the Minister of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, Pablo Bustinduy, will lead this Friday will be followed particularly closely within Sumar. Sources familiar with the approach tell this newspaper that the speech will be framed with a marked electoral component. "I know that tomorrow Bustinduy defends the second decree. And the speech will be electoral," says one of these sources.
The approach being considered in Sumar starts from a political premise: if the Government fails to even approve the decrees aimed at addressing the housing problem, it will be increasingly difficult to justify the continuity of the legislature under current conditions.
It is not, according to the consulted sources, a pressure limited to the parliamentary group. The demand for elections would have also begun to take hold among leaders of the space who are part of the Executive.
Sumar wants to take advantage of the housing mobilization
The debate about the continuity of the Government also intersects with another element that Sumar considers decisive: the growing social mobilization around access to housing.
Within the party, there is the idea that an eventual electoral campaign should make this issue one of its main axes. Housing would allow, according to this approach, to dispute political space with both the PP and Vox and capitalize on a social mobilization that has gained greater prominence in recent months.
For this reason, the eventual parliamentary failure this Friday is not seen solely as a legislative defeat. In Sumar, there is a perception that it could become the starting point of a new political stage. Sources from the space also indicate that Sumar wants to accelerate the preparation of its candidacy for upcoming general elections. The presentation could be brought forward and even take place next week.
The electoral hypothesis, therefore, begins to coexist with the Government's own activity.
Más Madrid: “It makes no sense to remain in the Government”
The discomfort is not limited to Sumar's own environment. Sources from Más Madrid also convey to ElConstitucional.es an equally critical position regarding the possibility that the decrees are rejected.
“It makes no sense to remain in the Government if the decrees fall tomorrow,” these sources assure. Their argument is that they cannot continue to support an Executive that, in their opinion, “is not even capable of protecting citizens from vulture funds.”
Más Madrid's position is also conditioned by the attitude that Junts adopts during the vote. “If Junts does not retract, we will have to reorganize and vote,” the same sources point out. The message shows that this Friday's vote can have consequences that go far beyond the two legislative texts submitted to Congress.
Moncloa does not withdraw the decrees despite Junts' ultimatum
While the Executive's partners increase the pressure, Moncloa has decided to maintain its position. The Government has responded to Junts' ultimatum by closing the door to withdrawing the two housing decrees that are submitted to a vote this Friday. Executive sources have confirmed that the progressive coalition maintains both royal decrees despite Carles Puigdemont's party's warning to vote against if they are not withdrawn.
The Junts leadership agreed this Thursday unanimously to demand the withdrawal of the two texts. Otherwise, their position will be to vote against both. The decision came after the spokesperson for Junts in Congress, Míriam Nogueras, expressed her “disappointment and concern” about the content of the measures and questioned whether the decrees are sufficient to prevent investment funds from continuing to buy housing.
The Government, for its part, defends that the texts are the result of months of work and negotiation with the different parliamentary groups. Executive sources maintain that during this process, an attempt has been made to “accommodate the vision of the different parliamentary groups and build a consensus that lives up to the demands and needs of the citizenry.”
