• Podemos ‘obsession with political control’ over judiciary, media criticised •
Spain’s Socialist party (PSOE) on Saturday knocked back a proposal made Feb. 16th by new-left, anti-austerity party Podemos with a detailed response outlining 14 different points that the Socialists said were non-negotiable in reaching any coalition governing agreement between the two parties.
In addition to rejecting as unconstitutional both a referendum on independence for Catalonia and the notion of a nationwide plebiscite vote on Spain’s Constitution, the PSOE also said it could not consider a number of Podemos economic proposals, including a 24 billion euro increase in annual government spending, renegotiation of Spain’s foreign debt and a three-year postponement of Spain’s commitment to reduce its budget deficit below 3 percent of GDP, as per EU-mandated targets.
In a press conference outlining the PSOE response, Socialist spokesman Antonio Hernando said the party is not in agreement with what he termed Podemos’ “obsession with political control” over the appointment of the heads of public agencies nor Podemos’ demand that police, public prosecutors and judiciary become the jurisdiction of a first Vice-Presidency held by Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias.
► Read More in Spanish at Vanguardia and El País …
