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  • First plenary session. Pedro Sánchez avoids self-criticism and Casado brings his shoulder up: "He is not alone"

Pedro Sánchez has obtained that the Congress of Deputies approves by an absolute majority the extension of the state of alarm until April 11. All the parliamentary forces, with the exception of the pro-independence ones, have given him support. His allies, those who opened the door to La Moncloa -ERC, Bildu and BNG-, plus JxCAT and the CUP, turned their backs on him, abstaining in the vote. The Government, on this occasion, the most important of the legislature, has found the support precisely in those it considers political enemies, those of "the photo of Columbus": PP, Vox and Citizens.

Despite the result of the vote -more than 320 votes in favor- the debate, for the Government, has been extremely hard. The parliamentary spokesmen poured out a veritable barrage of criticism against Sánchez and his ministers for their "lack of foresight and ineffectiveness."

The political truce that was seen in Congress a week ago when the president reported on the general lines of the state of alarm was shattered yesterday. The vote was almost unanimous, yes, but behind it throbbing enormous discrepancies and misgivings. The reproaches to the Government were overflowed by the unstoppable number of infected, the increasing number of deaths, the lack of protective material, the lack of tests and the fallen toilets in an open chest fight against the disease.

Sánchez assured that he had worked tirelessly "not a moment" to alleviate the health crisis and its devastating current and future economic effects, he listed the measures adopted by his Government and justified the extension of the confinement of citizens for 15 more days because it is, he said, " the only effective option. "The vaccine," he said, "we are each of us."

However, he flatly refused to paralyze productive activity or the total isolation of entire communities, as claimed by the pro-independence and minority forces that led to his investiture.

"I ask the Chamber for time, unity and loyalty," he said before proposing that the Health Commission of Congress become a follow-up commission of Covid-19, as the PP has claimed. The Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, will appear before it every week. Furthermore, Sánchez promised to study all the measures proposed by the parliamentary forces because, he admitted, "many of them are very reasonable."

Despite these gestures, his words did not convince. Self-indulgent and without a hint of self-criticism, they led the PP leader to reproach him for the tone: «The Spanish need solutions, not promises; certainties, not soflamas ». And this, he added, "is not going well, the government is not up to it."

Pablo Casado recalled the massive 8-M demonstrations animated by the Government and how, despite already having data on the looming problem, it allowed the holding of massive events; He stressed the lack of protection material for health workers and tests to know the true scope of the pandemic and to be able to control it, and he attacked the "conflict between the public and the private" that the Executive encourages.

"We have given him everything he has asked of us and despite this the effectiveness of his government is being minimal," Casado snapped, reminding him that the 15-day extension that is now approved is his opportunity. "Do not disappoint the Spanish once more," he urged.

The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, accused Sánchez and second vice president Pablo Iglesias of lying to the Spanish and taking advantage of this tragedy to "divide the spoils" of power. Abascal, very hard, was fattened with the ineffectiveness of the Government whom he accused of "sectarianism and negligence".

"Stop protecting yourself by making political stories on television and protect the Spanish," he snapped. Abascal called for the dismissal of Pablo Iglesias, the removal of the President of the Generalitat, Quim Torra, and the application of article 155 in Catalonia. He also attacked the pro-independence allies of the Government, whom he branded as "traitors." "No more wasting time politicking and take sole command. If you do not feel capable, you can go and give way to a government of concentration, "he urged.

ERC leader Gabriel Rufián reminded Sánchez that "incompetence, now, does not make you lose votes, but lose lives" and warned him that the day will come to "settle accounts." Rufian justified the abstention of his group due to the negligence and laxity of the Government. ERC demanded the total confinement of Madrid and Catalonia and the cessation of all activities that are not strictly essential. "Either we stop the country or we are left without a country," he said. JxCAT, CUP, EH Bildu and BNG followed in this position. Paralyzing the country and tightening confinement was also a demand for More Country.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • ERC
  • Vox
  • Salvador Illa
  • Pedro Sánchez
  • Pablo Iglesias
  • PP
  • CUP
  • BNG
  • Bildu
  • Congress of Deputies
  • Citizens
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19

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