Sumar fears a 'grand coalition' between Sánchez and Feijóo after the PSOE's support for the recidivism law

The spokesperson for Interior of Sumar in Congress, Enrique Santiago, has shown his concern about the support of the PSOE, along with the bloc of the right and the far-right, for the law of repeated offenses promoted by Junts. In his opinion, the socialists should distance themselves and avoid, as he said, that "it does not get carried away by the pressure" of far-right positions nor deviate from progressive policies in the face of the "temptation" to close a grand coalition with the PP.

During an interview on the RNE program 'Parlamento', Santiago described the criminal reform as "ineffective and very poorly oriented". In his opinion, "one cannot try to combat crimes that are situations of social exclusion by filling prisons with people and evading minimal social measures".

The Sumar leader defended that the legal system already contemplates sufficient tools to face these types of behaviors. As an example, he cited "restraining orders that can be perfectly applied without needing to modify the Penal Code" and stressed that "trying to kill flies with cannons is not appropriate".

Santiago also warned that the proposal provides for prison sentences of up to three years for the theft of a mobile phone, a sentence that —as he stressed— coincides with the maximum established in the Penal Code for white-collar crimes, such as corporate offenses or certain fraud in public prices.

In summary, according to Enrique Santiago, the reform "is going to fill the prisons with people in situations of exclusion" and will cause "the already congested Criminal Courts to become congested," by introducing more complexity into procedures and prolonging trials, which could hinder the effective application of sanctions.