The PSOE hopes to close the Government agreement with Sumar before the swearing-in of Princess Leonor

They assume that Sánchez's investiture will come to fruition and there will also be an agreement with the rest of the groups

MADRID, 23 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The PSOE is convinced that it will seal a government pact with Sumar within the deadline that has been set, that is, before the end of October and that it will be made public before the swearing-in of the Constitution by Princess Leonor. which will take place in the Congress of Deputies on October 31.

According to sources from the PSOE leadership consulted by Europa Press, the pact with the formation of Yolanda Díaz will be a fact and will be sealed in a timely manner, following the deadlines set by Sánchez and Díaz. In the meeting that both held on October 4, they agreed to accelerate the negotiations to have an agreement before the end of the month.

In Ferraz, therefore, they are clear about the calendar they want to follow and are convinced that Sánchez's investiture will come to fruition. Thus, they assume that once the agreement for a new coalition Executive is closed, there will also be an agreement to re-elect Sánchez, whose main obstacle is the amnesty requested by the pro-independence parties.

In this way, although in recent weeks the PSOE negotiators have been warning of the complexity of the talks, the sources consulted show their complete confidence that they will move forward. First there will be an agreement with Sumar and then with the rest of the forces whose votes are necessary for Sánchez to continue in La Moncloa.

The idea is to go through stages, first to close the last fringes of the PSOE Sumar agreement so that later the focus moves to the swearing in of the Constitution of Princess Leonor, who turns 18 on October 31 and will carry out this solemn act before Congress and Senate in joint session.

The Government has already placed emphasis on this event by describing it as a solemn ceremony "of enormous historical, legal and symbolic significance", according to the acting Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Cortes and Democratic Memory, Félix Bolaños, on 10 October.

He also pointed out that the Princess's swearing-in will demonstrate the strength of Spanish democracy because "it guarantees the continuity of the Crown, which is an absolutely central institution in our political system," as he indicated.

Therefore, that day all the focus will fall on the Princess and then, in November, it will be time to close the agreements with the groups, before the deadline of the 27th of that month, to avoid a repeat of general elections.

In the PSOE they avoid providing details about the possible obstacles with Sumar, but they slip that the bulk of the agreement is on track. Those from Díaz, however, specify that the main difference is in the reduction of the working day, which the PSOE opposes.

This morning Sumar's spokesperson, Ernest Urtasun, has been optimistic and sees it as feasible to reach an agreement with the PSOE in the week remaining until the end of October, and thus meet the deadline set by both parties.

Of course, they made it clear at a press conference that they are going to insist "strongly" and "until the last minute" on including the reduction of working hours.

On this matter, the first vice president and acting Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, stated this Monday that, although it will be necessary to talk in the social dialogue and in the collective negotiation of working hours, the priority in the next legislature must be that of ending unemployment and achieving full effective employment.

On the other hand, Urtasun has also mentioned that they demand for this agreement to maintain the tax on extraordinary profits for banks, toughen dismissals, deploy once and for all the scholarship holder status, with a view to ending the precariousness of this group, reducing part of domestic flights where there is a rail alternative to combat climate change and articulate the rental price control index in the Housing Law.

Sumar's spokesperson has stressed that the talks with the PSOE are progressing and sources from the coalition emphasize that their desire is to close the pact with the PSOE as soon as possible, without this implying giving up on exhausting the set deadline. But they admit that the issue of reducing the working day is now a main obstacle, perceiving strong resistance from the PSOE to including it in the program of the future coalition.

The proposal of the project led by the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, involves lowering the working day to 37.5 hours in 2024, thus equating the private and public sectors, and gradually reducing it to a threshold of 35 or 32 hours per week.

However, Podemos has described as "insufficient" the content of the negotiations between Sumar and PSOE to finalize a government agreement and calls on both parties to reevaluate the talks to achieve an "ambitious" pact.

This was stated at a press conference by the state co-spokesperson, Pablo Fernández, to point out that he is aware of the content of the contacts between Sumar and the socialists, and that based on the information they handle, he states that the measures being addressed do not satisfy their expectations for the future executive.

Thus, he has repeated that Podemos's proposals are to freeze the price of rent throughout the legislature, raise the minimum wage to 1,500 euros, renew the General Council of the Judiciary, repeal the 'Gag Law, and have Irene Montero once again head the of the Ministry of Equality, raising the bonus for public transport and clear initiatives to lower the cost of living.