The general secretary of Podemos, Ione Belarra, reiterated this Sunday that citizens “do not want elections,” but rather “solutions,” at a time when there is speculation about the possibility of an early general election by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.
In statements to the media before a demonstration for Palestine held in Madrid, the leader defended that the Executive must respond to social demands with concrete measures and not with electoral calculations. According to her, “people don't want elections, they want solutions,” an idea she repeated to emphasize that her party does not share a strategy focused on the political calendar.
A new royal decree-law on housing
Belarra has demanded that the Government approve a new royal decree-law on housing that she considers “ambitious” and that incorporates, among other measures, the expropriation of vulture funds, the closure of tourist apartments, and the reduction of rent by law.
The leader of Podemos went further by suggesting that, if this initiative were to be rejected again in Congress, the Executive should present it “every month.” In her words, “what we are demanding from the Government of Spain is that it bring an ambitious royal decree-law with the expropriation of vulture funds, with the closure of tourist apartments, with the reduction of rent by law, and that, if it is not approved in parliament, it bring it every month.”
Criticism of the Executive for prioritizing electoral interests
The deputy accused the Executive of prioritizing its “electoral interests” over the right to housing, a criticism with which she tried to place the debate in the realm of public policies and not in that of partisan strategy.
“We are not there,” Belarra said, before insisting that Podemos, she argued, is listening to the citizens. “We are listening to the people and the people have said it very clearly: they want solutions,” she concluded.
