The hasty reform of the Spanish Penal Code and especially of the crime of embezzlement is taking its toll on the the party of the Spanish Socialists, the PSOE, which is increasingly mired in internal criticism. In addition to the the voices of the president of Aragon, Javier Lambán, and the president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García Page, that of the Socialist deputy for Gipuzkoa, Odón Elorza, has now been added. In a meeting of the Socialist group in the Congress of Deputies, the Basque member of parliament conveyed to his colleagues his "unease" over the "rapidity and lack of internal debate" in the lead-up to the abolition of the crime of sedition and the reform of the crime of misuse of public funds, as reported by those attending the meeting to Europa Press.
"Poor approach" in terms of "democratic quality"
Elorza's main criticism is directed at the strategy being followed in the reform of the Penal Code, via the introduction of an amendment bill and then proposals for further amendments on top of that. Elorza points out that this is a poor approach for a "party defending democratic quality" and even more so when it is precisely a mechanism for which the PSOE has previously criticized the People's Party (PP). In his opinion, the public has been given the impression that the Spanish government has always moved in the shadow of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) and has adapted to the movements made by the Catalan party, and not "the most appropriate for the PSOE".
In addition, he criticized the lack of internal debate in the PSOE, as he has done on previous occasions. He believes that leaving the decisions solely in the hands of the Moncloa government palace is not positive for the party, and even more so when it comes to issues that, in his view "may have an electoral cost".
On the other hand, the former mayor of Donostia (Sant Sebastián) also expressed concern over the fact that the reforms have coincided with the processing of the budget. In his opinion, the pact with ERC "gives ammunition to the right" at a time when the Spanish government should have focused on "selling the virtues of the budget" for 2023, such as the measures with which "inflation is being contained' and the so-called social shield.
However, Elorza affirmed that he will not break with party discipline in the voting, as he has done on previous occasions, so that this Thursday he will vote in favour of the reform of the Penal Code in Congress.
Elorza considers that ERC has been "disloyal"
During today's meeting in Congress, the Gipuzkoa deputy also took the opportunity to criticise ERC, who he said were "disloyal" for having proposed a new referendum on self-determination after achieving these reforms. In this regard, he blames the Spanish government for not leaving everything "well tied up" with its parliamentary allies. In this regard, Elorza questions whether the misuse of funds reform will contribute to the improvement of the situation in Catalonia and the "pacification of independence supporters", especially those in Junts.
Meanwhile, the PSOE senator for Badajoz, Baldomero Espinosa Moreno, struck back this Wednesday against Emiliano García Page, after the president of the Castilla-La Mancha autonomous community had launched a strong attack on Pedro Sánchez for the reform of the Penal Code. He demanded "loyalty" to the head of the executive and asked him "not to try to get votes" by putting himself "where he wasn't asked to go". The Castilla-La Mancha leader had stated categorically that he was "very much opposed to the decision of the Spanish government" and that it was "intolerable to make deals with criminals on their own sentences", saying that this was "just too much", in fact it "seemed neither left-wing, nor progressive nor useful."