Sumar reaviva the clash with the PSOE in the Government to distance itself from the corruption spotlight
Ana Cabanillas
Madrid02 JUN 2026 7:18
Sumar tries to bring the focus back to government action to shake off the wear and tear from the PSOE's corruption cases. The junior coalition partner also pays the price for the judicial fronts that plague the socialist wing and now seeks to change the screen so that public debate returns to the legislative agenda of the Council of Ministers. And confrontation with the socialists within the Government is precisely one of the formulas to try to reduce the weight of corruption in the news agenda.
The indictment of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and the subsequent entry of the UCO into the socialist headquarters in Ferraz left the PSOE in a state of "shock," as described within Sumar's ranks, where they criticize their government partner for the lack of a clear reaction from the socialists and the delay of Pedro Sánchez last week in announcing his explanations in Congress. The junior government partner has been calling for days for the socialists to change the focus of the debate and dilute a situation that also drags them down.
The plan involves putting measures that generate conflict with the senior partner on the table, in an attempt to stage the clash with the PSOE within the government perimeter. And thus leave out the judicial cases that affect the PSOE or socialist ministers from previous periods.
In Sumar they strive to combat the mantra of 'zero corruption does not exist' and position themselves as an example of cleanliness. But they are also aware that, although the corruption cases do not directly affect them, they can also drag them down in the eyes of public opinion. And that is why they demand that the PSOE take back the helm of the government agenda and put forward their own demands.
This Monday, the coordinator of Movimiento Sumar, Lara Hernández, asked the PSOE to "come out of the shock," while also calling for activating the legislative machinery. "As long as there are concrete measures for the people, there is legislature for a while," she defended in a press conference, warning that "the media noise" of the corruption cases - "devastating" for the PSOE, she noted - prevented focusing on the government's policy measures, such as the pharmaceutical copayment law approved last Thursday in Congress.
The strategy now involves bringing back to the table the measures that divide the government, without shying away from the controversy it may generate. And this very Monday several Sumar ministers expressed themselves in that sense. Pablo Bustinduy, the Minister of Social Rights, returned to the charge with the decree on rent extension that already fell through in Congress and that Sumar committed to reintroduce. "This is not a time for delays or excuses or for slowing down the timing. We want to bring the rent extension back to Congress," the Sumar leader reproached the socialist wing of the government.
Yolanda Díaz herself also set homework for the socialist wing, demanding approval of a new decree extending rent contracts. But not only that. The still second vice-president also opened a new front with the PSOE by criticizing the end of the tax cuts on electricity and gas to contain energy prices, which expired on June 1, asking for another decree to maintain them. These tax cuts were included in the anti-crisis decree due to the Iran war last March but have been deactivated this month after inflation moderated.
The Sumar leader called, in a session in Congress, for "urgently" approving a new decree to extend the expired measures, such as the VAT applicable to electricity and natural gas, briquettes, pellets, and firewood, which went from 10% to 21% this Monday. "We urgently need a new decree to address the consequences of this situation, reinstating the measures that have expired today," she argued.
The junior government partner refuses to let the legislature fall due to the judicial fronts, and given the poor prospects that polls show for a political space still without defined leadership or clear composition ahead of an electoral appointment. Holding the legislature is presented as a shared objective with the socialists. And, although they also appeal to the argument of avoiding a government of PP and Vox, they seek to mark their profile by opening new contests with their own measures.
