Sánchez presents himself as guarantor of the Constitution to stop the wear and tear of his pacts with ERC and Bildu

• Measures The Government leaves basic food without VAT and grants a check of 200 euros to low-income families

• Justice The Government celebrates the CGPJ agreement but maintains its initiative in Congress for fear of future blockades by the PP

Starting gun.

Screen change.

Pedro Sánchez starred yesterday in the leap to a new scenario for the Government.

2022 ends and in

They are already decisively pressing the electoral button.

The return of the rest days that will be taken next week would mean fully entering a path that stops at the municipal and regional elections in May and ends at the general elections in December.

A transition in which La Moncloa wants to lower the ball onto the economic playing field, trusting that the anti-crisis package approved yesterday - which eliminates VAT on basic foods and grants a check for 200 euros to families with an income of less than 27,000 euros-, moderate growth and measures such as the rise in the minimum wage allow it to recover electoral muscle.

Some measures that Sánchez describes as "governing for the people" and that he trusts that they will "give their electoral results."

But that path to the generals Sánchez will be done hand in hand with some governance partners, such as ERC or EH Bildu, and even governments such as Unidas Podemos, which generate rejection, mistrust or discomfort not only in sectors of the PSOE but also in society. .

Hence, the head of the Executive presents himself as guarantor of the

, even placing the PP outside of it - "It is the PP who is outside the Constitution," he went on to say yesterday on several occasions -, in a bid to annul the message and the criticism that he gives in to the "blackmail" of the independentistas or that he agrees with those who want to break

.

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Considering cold.

Stones, hailstones and Pedro's hoaxes

• Drafting: JORGE BUSTOS

Stones, hailstones and Pedro's hoaxes

"As leader of the opposition and as President of the Government, I have remained faithful to my commitment to the Constitution", is the message that Sánchez wanted to convey to combat the reluctance or judgments of those who consider, inside and outside his party, that the pacts and agreements with nationalist formations subtract and do not add up.

Launches a package that excludes basic food from VAT and caps rents

The head of the Executive in this purpose of safeguarding his image and that of his government action does not hesitate to always remember that he has occasion that under his leadership the PSOE supported the application of article 155 of the Constitution in

, when the independentistas "in a irresponsible, they placed us before the abyss of breaking the territorial integrity of the country.

The coalition government has 153 deputies, when the majority in Congress is 176. Hence, from the first minute, even to consummate his inauguration as president, Sánchez has needed the support of parties such as ERC, EH Bildu, PNV, You compromise... becoming most of them stable partners.

Former Vice President Pablo Iglesias came to define this situation of the nationalists as "assuming responsibility for the leadership of the State."

This dependence, however, means that during the negotiations to carry out the measures, the nationalists, aware of their muscle, of their position of strength, tighten their demands and, on many occasions, the decisions of the Government are seen as cessions.

The option to continue in La Moncloa involves repeating alliances with the nationalists

Given the current political fragmentation, it seems clear that the PSOE's chances of being able to remain in La Moncloa go through uniting again the so-called investiture bloc and adding more than the right.

Repeat, therefore, those alliances with ERC, EH Bildu, PNV...

In his exercise to present himself as guarantor of the Constitution and try to remove the fears or rejection of voters, Sánchez uses a series of strong ideas.

Namely: "The Constitution is fulfilled in all territories, including Catalonia";

"A referendum does not fit in the Constitution, it will not take place";

«I have been here for four years and Spain has not broken and no consultation has been held in Catalonia»;

"Independence is not a concern for the Spanish"...

To reinforce this constitutional suit, the president's exercise involves placing both the independentistas and the PP as co-responsible for what happened, while placing the PSOE "always within the Constitution, others cannot say the same."

A statement that is valid both for the independentistas, for their actions in 2017, and for the PP for the blockade in the renewal of bodies such as the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ).

The President of the Government defines it as follows: "The irresponsibility of some and the incapacity of others."

Faced with attempts to pour water, Pere Aragonès, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, set out in his Christmas speech the intention of agreeing with the Government in 2023 on the conditions for holding an agreed referendum on independence.

In La Moncloa they maintain that "the

is over" and, in fact, they consider their promise to de-judicialize the conflict fulfilled with reforms such as the repeal of sedition or the reduction of embezzlement, to the point that the celebration has been frozen of a new dialogue table, agreed and in summer between the Government and the Generalitat for before the end of the year.

He presumes that he has not been consulted and that it will not be carried out

In the presidential complex they have detected that in recent months Sánchez has managed to gain points in centrality, that is, in 5 of an ideological table where 1 is the extreme left and 10 the extreme right.

A few months ago, Feijóo was the preference in that ideological space, but the head of the Executive has recovered ground.

And presenting himself as a defender and guarantor of the Constitution seeks to reinforce that role.

"If you take a tour of Catalonia, you realize that you are not experiencing the same situation as in 2017. The agenda for the reunion of the Government will have something to do with it," Sánchez proclaimed.

"The unity and union of Spain is forged and consolidated by building coexistence and not confronting," was the message to try to defuse criticism of its assignments and pacts with the independentistas.

In this purpose of presenting himself as a statesman, Sánchez also relies on the message that he governs "to protect the social majority."

And the new package of anti-crisis measures approved is a lever for this.

Excludes basic food from VAT;

the oil and paste drop from 10% to 5%;

launches a 200-euro program for 4.2 million families, with annual incomes of up to 27,000 euros;

extends the 2% limit to the annual rent update...

The ministers Isabel Rodríguez and Félix Bolaños, yesterday in La Moncloa.ALBERTO DI LOLLI

Moncloa seeks to avoid benefits to corrupt

One of the purposes of La Moncloa was to close the year having settled some of the controversial and cumbersome issues that were in the portfolio.

Hence, for example, he rushes it to expressly process the repeal of sedition and the reduction of embezzlement.

But the change in these criminal offenses not only generates concern in the PSOE, but also within the Government due to the fear of a scenario in which sentences could be reduced for corrupt politicians.

Pedro Sánchez considers that the legal reform contains guarantees so that this does not happen.

The President of the Government wanted yesterday to focus on his measures to alleviate the rise in food prices -basic products will be exempt from VAT for the next six months-, but he had to render an account of the Generalitat's approach that in 2023 the conditions of an agreed referendum or the reduction of embezzlement are agreed.

Sánchez defended that the reform of this crime includes a transitory provision that "guarantees that the penalties are maintained for cases of irregular budgetary deviation" and "without downward revision of sentences."

The head of the Executive believes that this should be enough so that the situation experienced with the law of only

and the cascade of reductions in sentences for the aggressors is not reproduced.

Within the PSOE and the Government there is concern that there could be reductions in sentences and that would damage the image of the fight against corruption of an Executive that came to power by a motion of no confidence against the corruption of the PP.

Faced with this position, the Anti-

's Office has already warned that the reform may affect dozens of convicted and prosecuted for the diversion of public funds and will force both reviews of final sentences and to mitigate those sentence requests requested by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. in numerous ongoing proceedings pending prosecution.

The Chief Anti-Corruption Prosecutor himself,

, asked the political class not to take a step back and "that criminal responsibility not be diluted."

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• CKD

• bildu

• PSOE

• PP

• Add

• General Council of the Judiciary

• GNP

• commitment

• Pablo Iglesias

• United We Can

• Pere Aragones

• Generalitat of Catalonia

• Pedro Sanchez