Council of Ministers The Government denies the risk of rupture due to the 'yes is yes' but warns Podemos that the penalties must be changed

The Government denies that the differences between the PSOE and Unidas Podemos over how to face the correction of the law of only yes is yes are going to precipitate the breakup of the coalition and sends a conciliatory message by assuring that it is going to seek an "agreement"

Council of Ministers The Government denies the risk of rupture due to the 'yes is yes' but warns Podemos that the penalties must be changed

The Government denies that the differences between the PSOE and Unidas Podemos over how to face the correction of the law of only yes is yes are going to precipitate the breakup of the coalition and sends a conciliatory message by assuring that it is going to seek an "agreement". However, different purple spokesmen have insisted on Tuesday that the change proposal made by the Ministry of Justice, and that the PSOE could present unilaterally in Congress, would be "unacceptable" for them because it means crossing the "red line". to displace consent from the center of the law to recover intimidation and violence as axes. What's more, Pablo Echenique has reproached the majority partner that with this approach he would not be "protecting" the unity of the Executive.

At a press conference after the Council of Ministers, the minister spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, has worked hard to try to calm the minority partner, guaranteeing that "not even a comma will be touched" of the article that regulates consent. But that promise is not enough for the Ministry of Equality, because it is alleged that keeping intact the wording of article 178.1 would not matter if a distinction is made between sexual assault with violence or without violence, since it would recover the previous scheme and "load" the heart of the star law of Irene Montero.

Moncloa's decision to change the law has been made. The problem is how. "Today the best way to defend the law of the only yes is yes is to carry out the technical adjustments", underlined Rodríguez, to prevent the undesired effects from occurring. For this reason, the socialist wing of the Government warns United We Can that the "problem" is in the "sentences". And that is where they have to focus the technical work.

The spokesperson for the Executive has recognized that the matter is of great technical "complexity" and has warned that it is not enough to increase the penalties as such, as the Ministry of Equality proposed in December, but rather that to do so requires "a series of justifications ". That is the heart of the matter and where the PSOE contemplates putting violence. "In no case", she has warned her on several occasions, does she "affect" the article that contemplates consent.

Rodríguez assures that the Government "is not thinking" about the risks of ruptures, but about "solving" a problem that has generated social alarm. For this reason, he has insisted that they hope to reach an agreement between the parties to "carry out all the technical adjustments."

The socialist wing of the Executive assures that they are going to "solve" the conflict with United We Can and advocates waiting this week to see what happens, postponing the registration of the socialist reform in Congress for at least that period. There would therefore be days ahead for a pact. Although, it is true, there is no specific end of term, since throughout the parliamentary process the socialist text could be amended if there was an agreement between the two partners.

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