The Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso uses the coronavirus crisis to justify a reform of the Statute of Autonomy that would strengthen its power: it wants to introduce the figure of the decree laws for emergency situations, according to documentation published on the transparency portal. This statutory modification would allow him to make decisions without first going through the Assembly, which should endorse (or not) his decision 30 days later. The opposition sees in this bet, already included in other autonomous statutes, and used by the central government, an attempt to escape the weak situation of the regional executive. Díaz Ayuso is in the minority, depends for everything on Vox and has not managed to pass a single law since he came to power.
The coronavirus crisis, which already leaves 15,000 dead and 70,000 infected in Madrid, has put the regional coalition executive formed by the PP and Cs in front of the mirror of the limits of their capacity for action. Introducing the figure of the decree law in the Statute of Autonomy would allow it to act executive, approving measures independently of the majorities in the Assembly, in the image and likeness of what the Government can do in Congress. This tool, which communities such as Valencia, Andalusia, Aragon, Balearic Islands, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Extremadura and Navarra already have, would give them a margin of 30 days, after which the deputies should validate their decisions, or these they would decay.
“Crises such as the one caused by the covid-19 pandemic show us that governments face situations in which executive instruments that allow them to urgently take the necessary legislative measures are urgently needed,” he argues. the official documentation in reference to the coronavirus crisis, a period in which the autonomous Executive has not taken a single measure to vote in the Assembly.
In fact, the Madrid deputies have not voted in the plenary session of the Chamber since March 5, when they knocked down the modest tax cut sponsored by the PP and Cs government. So far, this is the only example of a reform being processed in Parliament under the auspices of Díaz Ayuso, who has been in power since August 2019. Strategically, the move is striking for three reasons. First, the Government is in the minority, so it is not assured to approve the reform in the Assembly, an objective so complicated that it has only been achieved three times (1991, 1994 and 1998).
Second, the parties that make up the Executive also do not have a majority in Congress and the Senate, where they would have to negotiate new support to overcome the barrier of the regional Parliament. And third, Díaz Ayuso and Ignacio Aguado seem to bet on a piecemeal reform of the Statute, instead of looking for a global negotiation that updates a 1983 text. The government also wants, for example, to eliminate political outcropings. “It is a measure that may seem correct to us in the abstract, but it depends a lot on its use, and in Ayuso’s hands it gives us chills,” says Pablo Gómez Perpinyà, from Más Madrid.
“If he proposes it now, it is because he is aware of his parliamentary weakness, which prevents him from carrying out even his own star project, the tax reduction,” he argues. “The decree law is useful in Congress, where laws are usually made, but in practically a year the Ayuso government has only brought a bill to the Assembly, and it failed, so more than any extraordinary instrument what it needs is get down to work”.
“We agree to review our statute of autonomy,” he adds, “but if the melon is opened we want to talk about everything: how to incorporate a charter of social rights, how to strengthen the role of the Madrid Assembly to control the Government , of how to give more prominence to the municipalities … ”.
Three months without voting
“This seems to be an attempt by a minority government to take measures without first having to go through Parliament,” agrees Jacinto Morano, spokesperson for Unidas Podemos IU Madrid en Pie. “The regulations of the Madrid Assembly allow mechanisms such as emergency procedures and single reading,” he recalls. “Mrs. Díaz Ayuso has not used them in this crisis. We have been voting for almost three months in the Madrid Assembly. The inability of the Government to see its measures approved cannot be replaced by amending the Statute. ”
“It would be impossible to apply in the current health crisis,” they recall in the PSOE about the lengthy process that requires reforming the autonomy statute. “In addition, a reform of the Statute of Autonomy is not the greatest urgency,” added sources from the parliamentary group, who point out that no text has yet reached the Chamber and agree with the rest of left-wing groups in calling for a more ambitious reform of the Statute. , that guarantees social rights.
The government documentation explains the application limits that the new decree laws would have to go forward. Its application would be in cases of “extraordinary and urgent need”. Decisions that affect the rights, duties and freedoms of citizens included in title I of the Constitution, or the regulation of self-government institutions regulated in title I of the Statute of Autonomy, the electoral system and the approval of its general budgets. Neither to the tax burdens faced by citizens and companies. It would reinforce the power of Díaz Ayuso and the governments to come in a time of fragmented parliaments, unstable majorities and coalition executives.
“Extraordinary and urgent need”
The government documentation explains the application limits that the new decree laws would have to go forward. Its application would be in cases of “extraordinary and urgent need”. Decisions that affect the rights, duties and freedoms of citizens set forth in title I of the Constitution, or the regulation of self-government institutions regulated in title I of the Statute itself, the electoral regime, could not be adopted in this way. and the approval of their general budgets. Neither to the tax burdens faced by citizens and companies. It would reinforce the power of Díaz Ayuso and the governments to come in an era of fragmented parliaments.
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