Sumar clarifies that the agreement with the PSOE on the Gag Law is limited to amending only one article

Sumar’s deputy spokesperson Enrique Santiago made it clear in Congress on Tuesday that the announcement made hours earlier by Vice President Yolanda Díaz on an agreement with the PSOE for the ‘repeal’ of what is known as the Gag Law, is limited to the reform of an article, so that the taking or distributing of images of police officers during demonstrations is no longer an offence.

During a press conference in Congress, the IU delegate also explained that, apart from the global consensus on the reform of the Citizen Security Law that the PSOE and Unidas Podemos reached in Congress in the previous legislature, the relative agreement consists of the amendment of article 36 of that standard which was approved in 2015 by an absolute majority of the PP.

However, Sumar’s deputy spokesperson recalled that any change to the Gag Law must have the agreement of the Spanish government’s parliamentary partners, which was not achieved during the previous legislature, thus nullifying the text agreed between the PSOE and Unidas Podemos.

In the same vein, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaskahas also said that the proposal negotiated by PSOE and Sumar to reform the Citizen Security Law will introduce “minimal” changes regarding the attempt to repeal the so-called Gag Law, which failed to pass the parliamentary process in the previous term, and has assured that “the exercise of their functions by the state security agencies and forces will be guaranteed.”

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The chairman of PNVAndoni Ortuzar recalled that his party already supported the attempt to reform the so-called ‘gag law’ in the last legislature, but criticized the fact that this time the government, “again bad at the procedure”, has not played its game.

Ortuzar said he did not know if they had spoken to ERC and EH Bildu, who had prevented the agreement in the previous legislature. If they had not spoken to them, he warned, “we could be in groundhog day. This government does not fully understand that it has to talk to its supporters before announcing things,” he concluded.

Sources of EH Picture They also indicated that they have no evidence of any agreement, “beyond what was reported this morning by the press.” In this sense, they indicated that their “position remains the same as during the previous term: put an end to hot returns, ban the use of rubber balls and address the article on disrespect for authority.” Thus, he pointed out that “if these red lines are not taken into account, there will be no full repeal of the Gag Law.

Vox’s deputy spokesperson in Congress, Javier Ortegawarned that the agreement “aims at nothing other than to continue disarming” state security forces and agencies against criminals. This, he deplored, is another step in the policy of “impunity” of “this state prior to a totalitarian state,” he added.