The spokesperson for the PSOE Federal Executive, Montse Mínguez, assured this Saturday that her party is “always” at a table and willing to negotiate, after the two housing royal decrees promoted by the Government fell in the Congress this Friday. In an interview granted to RAC1, Mínguez acknowledged, however, that she does not know if there are open conversations with Junts, in a parliamentary arc that she has defined as complicated due to its fragmentation.
The socialist leader defended that the decrees had been negotiated and had the support of different formations, which is why she focused on Junts' decision: “Junts per Catalunya must explain very well why, if the vast majority of their proposals are included in the document, why did they vote against it?”, she asked.
Criticism of Junts' vote alongside PP and Vox
Mínguez reproached the post-convergents for voting alongside the PP and Vox and suggested that behind this movement there may be “an electoral calculation”, at a time when, she said, the Congress is shifting to the right. In her opinion, now “all the excuses, whatever they want” can be sought, but she regretted that the fall of the decrees has left “millions of families” in a worse situation than they would have had if they had been approved.
“I ask them for a reflection, yesterday they did a lot of harm to Catalans”, insisted the socialist spokesperson, who defended that these were “good decrees” and that, therefore, the problem is not in the PSOE's lack of will, but in the refusal of other forces to support the measures.
Housing, negotiation and political reproaches
The federal spokesperson maintained that it is up to political leaders to agree to solve the housing problem and defended that the PSOE has indeed worked on the negotiation of these texts. In this context, she recalled that she has heard the President of the Government say on several occasions that the VAT on tourist flats should be 21%, while the decree states 10%, which, she interpreted, reveals that some conservative party would have asked to lower the proposal.
“These are texts that surely if they were our own we would have gone further”, explained Mínguez, while emphasizing that the work of the socialists has been to negotiate within a very fragmented Parliament with very different positions.
Maricarmen's eviction accelerated conversations
In her speech, Mínguez also alluded to the eviction of Maricarmen, to which she attributed a sensitizing effect on the parties and an acceleration of conversations. “I don't understand why we have to wait another month, another week, what game is this when we could have solved it yesterday”, she lamented.
The socialist spokesperson pointed out that there have been “nationalist parties that are responsible” and pointed to both the PP and Junts as forces to which, in her opinion, responsibilities must be demanded. “We will do everything possible to give peace of mind to the people who are now asking for solutions”, she concluded.
