The opposition accuses President Sanchez of ideological sectarianism

USPA NEWS - The plenary of the Congress of Deputies authorized this Wednesday the Spanish Government to extend the state of alarm until 00:00 hours on June 21, in a vote in which the request defended by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, received 177 votes in favor, 155 against and 18 abstentions.

This is the sixth extension of the state of alarm, which was declared by Royal Decree 463/2020, of March 14, for the management of the health crisis situation caused by COVID-19. Subsequently, and after the approval of the Congress of Deputies, it was extended five times. The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, opened the debate with the defense of the request for an extension of the state of alarm, but the debate soon led to the controversy generated by the dismissal of Colonel López de los Cobos, head of the Civil Guard in Madrid. The Minister of Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, assured in Parliament that the dismissal responded to the desire to renew the equipment, but the discovery of a written note, signed by the director of the Civil Guard, acknowledging that the dismissal of the colonel from the Civil Guard was due to its refusal to inform the Government of the investigations that are being carried out into the Government's action in the pandemic by COVID-19, ordered by a judge, heated the debate.

Previously, President Sánchez had praised his own management of the pandemic, which he said has been "smart and gradual." He called for prudence to complete the de-escalation and demanded that "no to the poison of hate" be said to rebuild the country. But the deputies were more interested in demanding the resignation of the minister of Home Affairs than in talking about the de-escalation. The conservative opposition and the extreme right accused the Government of interfering in the judicial proceedings, something that the Prime Minister denied: “With this Government there has never been and there will never be an interference or a so-called patriotic police dedicated to covering up the corruption of a party,“ he said.

"The enemy is the virus and it cannot be the pretext to divide using the victims or appropriate a flag," added Pedro Sánchez. "Let us work from the same flag, for the common interest. The flag belongs to everyone and represents our will to live together and form a common country project. No one is outside the flag nor has the right to appropriate it or to use it against others. There are no good and bad Spaniards. Let us not use the name of Spain in vain or use the symbols to divide,“ he concluded.

The Spanish Government will approve next Tuesday, June 9, a decree-law that will contain all the mandatory rules after the end of the state of alarm. From a day before, more than half of Spain will be in phase 3, which will allow for longer journeys and the expansion of capacity in shops and bars, where it will be possible to consume drinks at the bar.

The opposition harasses

Faced with the Government's position, the leader of the conservative opposition, Pablo Casado, accused the president Sánchez of being "charged with ideological sectarianism," said. "Today he talks about poison like the arsonist who teaches about fires," and warned him that "you are not the white blackbird of politics, you are a lame duck and you were before the black swan of the Coronavirus. We don't come out stronger however much you pay for ads," he concluded.