Although in the end it will not come to blood, both sides know that the stakes are high: the Spanish government coalition in which the Socialists of the PSOE are joined with the alternative left of Unidas Podemos this Tuesday went through one of its apparent high-voltage crises. High, due to the main cause of the argument - the 'Only yes means yes' law - due to the time it takes place - the eve of 8th March - and due to the way in which the differences have been brought up, abruptly, in the Congress of Deputies. The judicial interpretation of Only yes means yes, with a steady trickle of sentence reductions for sex offenders that has added up to almost 800 by the start of this week, as well as around 80 convicted criminals released from jail by the courts after requesting sentence reviews, already made it clear that the currently-in-force wording of the law was at a dead end. The Socialists could not go towards elections with an issue of such importance among their more moderate electorate, and Unidas Podemos could not reject its own star project.
There was, therefore, no other option than to reach a deal on the differences and safeguard the most precious thing that they share - and that is nothing else but the governing coalition itself. After this, the Socialists will have a temporary and once-only attack of embarrassment in pushing forward their legislative initiative to amend the law with the People's Party (PP) of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, but in return they will make sure that this issue does not continue to hit them one day after another on the front pages of the Madrid printed press and on Spanish radio and TV. Unidas Podemos and the minister Irene Montero will lose the battle, politically speaking, but they will have withstood the challenge of Pedro Sánchez, who is known to have asked her to lead the government's rectification, only to receive her refusal.
Since in the Spanish government all political actions taken are measured in terms of the electoral points they score, we'll have to wait and see whether the PSOE manages, within a few weeks, to get out of the current electoral difficulties which the different polls predict and which, if they are true, would translate into a significant loss of power on the May 28th municipal election day - and the prelude to what might happen later, when Spanish general elections are held at the end of November or the start of December. It is obvious that the Socialists have failed with their turn to the left, since they have not managed to reestablish an equilibrium in their contention with the PP and, moreover, the surveys predict more deputies for Vox than for Unidas Podemos or Yolanda Díaz's new platform, Sumar.
In these circumstances, Sánchez is seeking to recover women voters for the Socialists - apart from the feminists who will take to the streets today - and leave space for Unidas Podemos to grow, and for the votes they achieve to not be lost in the dozens of provinces where there are fewer seats and the current distribution sees representatives won by only the PP, PSOE and Vox. Most likely, the PSOE will experience a bitter 8th March, given that it is accustomed to being the centre of attention and, when the PP is in government, to lead these types of demands. Perhaps that is why the Spanish government has so hastily pulled from up its sleeve - in the trademark style of the house - an ambitious project, that is, the proposed law of parity representation, to ensure a balance of sexes in future governments and in the top management of major companies
A project of this magnitude should not be a response to its change of position on the Only yes means yes law, but rather, an initiative that aims for unanimity in Congress, since it has been shown that things only move forward if the rules are strict, irreversible and fixed in time. The move from a recommendation to an obligation is essential and, in addition to encompassing electoral lists, governments and the structure of the administration, it also affects the Ibex share index companies, which must meet the minimum percentage of 40% women on their boards before July 1st, 2024, while all companies with more than 250 employees must do the same by July 2026, a commendable initiative. That the Spanish employers are against it only reflects the historical resistance to change in the CEOE business association, an obstacle to any progress in the country.