The rectification of the law of only yes is yes has been sentenced in Congress with the sum of votes of the two major parties, PP and PSOE, together with Ciudadanos and PNV. The correction of this norm, which has split the Government in two and has also pitted the Socialists against the allies who facilitated the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, has gone ahead with 233 yeses compared to 59 noes and four abstentions.

The decisive debate in plenary session did not have the presence of the President of the Government. Sánchez, in this case he washes his hands and he has shown it by not even going to vote. He did not do so when the bill that he himself ordered activated was admitted for processing to avoid the bleeding of votes that the continuous reduction of sentences promoted by law could cause him, and he has not done so today to avoid, many suspect, adding his yes to that of the popular deputies.

Those who have taken their seats on the blue bench have been the two contending ministers in this battle: the head of Justice, Pilar Llop, and that of Equality, Irene Montero. The first flags the rectification; the second clings to her norm. The second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, and the Minister of Social Rights, Ione Belarra, who have voted together with Montero against the correction, were also present. Belarra and Montero, to emphasize their twinning and their position, have come to the Chamber wearing purple outfits.

United We Can, staunch defenders of the only yes is yes sponsored by the Ministry of Equality, has described the day as “sad”. This qualification has also been used by the Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, for whom the rectification of her law is a “clear reversal”. She has regretted that consent will now be considered “a theater”. Montero has warned that “a political, economic or religious crisis will suffice for the rights of women to be questioned again.” For the minister, the “offensive” against the yes is yes law “always” was against the government and against the president.

The Minister for Equality has reproached the PSOE for its attitude and its rejection of all the rectification proposals presented by her Ministry. For Montero, the truth is that the Socialists wanted to “return to the previous Penal Code.” “This is a serious setback”, she has insisted, and has reproached the PSOE for its willingness to “negotiate feminist rights with the PP”. “Today we are in the minority,” Montero accepted, “but we are going to continue working.” Only the bench of United We Can and the deputies of ERC have applauded her intervention.

In front of her, the spokesperson for the PP, Cuca Gamarra, regretted that it took so long, almost seven months, to rectify a law that has caused almost a thousand sentence reductions and a hundred releases of sexual offenders. The representative of the PP has not overlooked the absence of Sánchez, whom the popular consider the “mainly responsible and guilty” of the yes is yes law.

“We already see”, said Gamarra, “where a way of governing based on slogans and marketing leads”. “Now the PSOE”, he denounced, “does not seek to stop an immoral bloodletting, but to stop an electoral bloodletting”. The deputy has wondered why Sánchez decided to give the maximum urgency to reforms of the Criminal Code to eliminate the crime of sedition and reduce the crime of embezzlement and, nevertheless, it has taken her almost seven months to fix “the biggest scandal of democracy” . The PP spokesperson has not hesitated once again to demand “political responsibilities” from the absent Prime Minister.

The representative of the PSOE, Andrea Fernández, has placed the decision of her group within the framework of “responsibility” and “honesty”. The deputy has defended the bulk of the law sponsored by Equality but has admitted that the reform of the Criminal Code that she has promoted has not given the results that were sought. Addressing the ministers of Unidas Podemos, Fernández has reproached them for the “noise” and has reminded them that with this change “there is no humiliation” and looking towards the side of the PP, he has accused its members of having used the problem with the intention of ” get political gain.” The socialist representative has tried to reduce the contributions of the popular to the reform that has gone ahead today and has ensured that only her group has led the rectification when, in reality, the socialist proposal is practically identical to the one presented by the PP at the beginning of December.

Podemos has accused the PSOE this Thursday of favoring those investigated for sexual assault such as the former Blaugrana player Dani Alves with the reform of the law of only yes is yes.

This has been stated by the deputy of the formation Lucía Muñoz, who has intervened in the debate in the Plenary of Congress.

For Muñoz, today is a “very sad day”, since there is going to be a “turn back” in what refers to the “centrality of consent” in sexual relations. This deputy has alluded to the fact that the defense of the footballer Dani Alves has already argued that the attack of which he is accused was “consensual sex”, since the complainant had no injuries after the incident. | SERVIMEDIA

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