The Permanent Council, the body of Congress that makes decisions outside the ordinary session, has rejected all the appearances of ministers requested by the PP, despite the fact that that of the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, has been supported by ERC and Bildu has abstained.
The Lower House has resumed parliamentary activity in 2023 with this session of the Permanent Deputation that has debated up to nine requests for the appearance of eight ministers, but which ultimately have not prospered, despite being mostly supported by PP, Vox and Cs.
Some of these ministers will appear at their own request in commission in the coming weeks, as is the case of the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, who will do so in February, or the head of Justice, Pilar Llop.
The deputies have debated the requests for the appearance of the first economic vice president, Nadia Calviño, of the second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, of the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, of the head of Equality, Irene Montero, of the Justice, Pilar Llop, the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, the Minister of Industry, Reyes Maroto and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.
The debate has lasted for four hours and among all the requests, that of Albares, requested by the PP to give an account in Congress of the next High Level Meeting with Morocco to be held in Rabat next week, has been the only one that has been supported by the Republicans.
The requests for appearances by Montero and Llop to explain the consequences of the implementation of the law to guarantee sexual freedom, better known as the law of only yes is yes, has also caused controversy among the parliamentary partners of the Government, which -although They have voted against – they have criticized that the norm has not been reformed to avoid reductions in sentences for sexual offenders.
The Permanent Deputation has not supported the urgent appearance of the Minister of Health required by the PP in the face of the covid outbreak in China, since the majority has understood that she will appear at her own request to report on the current health situation.
While Vox and Cs have supported the request of the popular for the minister to explain the impact in Spain of the increase in covid in China and to account for the need or not for masks on public transport, Unidas Podemos has branded it as “alarmist” on the right.
Likewise, the majority has also rejected that the second vice president explain the royal decree-law on incentives and bonuses for hiring that will precisely be validated tomorrow, as well as Teresa Ribera’s request to detail the Report on the proposed reform of the wholesale market of electricity from the European Union.
Nor have the requests of Reyes Maroto been approved to explain several dismissals in her ministry linked to the perte or that of Calviño to account for the degree of knowledge in the selection process of her husband Ignacio Manrique de Lara for the coordination of Commercial Strategy and Marketing of National Heritage, a position he finally resigned on December 23.
