The path for Castilla-La Mancha to have a new Statute of Autonomy this legislature has been cleared this Thursday after the unblocking of positions between PP and PSOE in a parliamentary committee, where they have reached an agreement that the number of deputies in the Cortes should range between 25 and 55 parliamentarians.
It was after 12:45 pm this Thursday when the vice president of the Cortes, Josefina Navarrete, announced the approval of the Proposal of Law for the Statute of Autonomy of Castilla-La Mancha, congratulating the groups and thanking them for their attitude.
The number of seats is part of the Electoral Law reform, the only aspect of the Statute reform that distanced socialists and ‘popular’ more than five months ago –October 2024–, when the processing of the document was suspended, after more than a year of previous work, negotiation, and meetings with numerous groups since September 2023.
The PSOE, represented by its spokesperson, Ana Isabel Abengózar, has proposed a transactional amendment to amendment 40 of the PP in the committee to raise the range of parliamentarians between 25 and 55 and leave it in suspense until December 31, 2027, so that the change does not affect the upcoming electoral process in May, adding that the possibility is open for this electoral law reform to be safeguarded by a three-fifths majority of the Chamber.
This was accepted by the parliamentary spokesperson and general secretary of the PP, Carolina Agudo, who explicitly agreed to this transactional amendment. This agreement did not seem likely, as consensus was not clear in a previous press conference.
Abengózar congratulated the PP bench because, in her opinion, everyone wins with this new text. «Gone are the difficulties and all the attempts we have had. Today those attempts are a reality and Castilla-La Mancha, from now on, takes a step closer to the approval of its new Statute of Autonomy suitable for the century we live in,» said the socialist.
On the other hand, the PP deputy pointed out that, with the acceptance of this specific amendment, referring to article 24 of the statute, it is achieved «to avoid the expansion of the number of deputies» as the PP has defended «until today,» which «guarantees» that the electoral system remains «unchanged» until after the elections.
«Our goal in the processing of this statute has been achieved, and we will continue from that maximum consensus that we have always defended, with that outstretched hand for the new norm to come out with the broadest possible consensus,» defended Agudo.
CHRONOLOGY OF DISAGREEMENT
The back and forth between both parties dates back more than five months, when last October the PSOE suspended negotiations after accusing the PP of not keeping its word of consensus to safeguard the new Statute, proposing that the range of parliamentarians be between 25 and 35 deputies.
It was at the beginning of this month of April when the PSOE of Castilla-La Mancha announced that it would convene, after Easter, the relevant parliamentary committee with the inclusion of the range of 25 to 55 deputies, with the condition that its entry into force be materialized in December 2027, which in their opinion, left the PP with «no excuses» to approve the document.
Therefore, after this parliamentary committee, the Proposal of Law for the Statute of Autonomy of Castilla-La Mancha will reach the plenary session of the regional Parliament, and it will be the socialist Ana Isabel Abengózar who will defend the opinion of the norm.
On the other hand, the Vox deputy Francisco José Cobo has defended the 35 amendments of his group, which have been rejected, and they maintained their full opposition to the reform, as they believe that «the regional system is ineffective,» showing support for the debate on the reform to only be opened to return «competences to the State in health, education, security, and justice».