The two wheels of Congress

This morning, Congress concludes its activities, taking a vacation similar to that of the working population. Although the Constitution mandates that its members are not to return to Madrid in July and August, this section of Article 73 is falling into disuse. However, in other, more labor-related areas, it is the parliament itself that decides when to close or remain open, as is the case in Germany. The unstated, but beneficial, effect of suspending the deputies' summer work has been to relieve the ministers of the demands and pressures of the lordships.

Among the demands of extraordinary urgency is the reform of the Congressional Rules themselves, which are notoriously resistant to change, just as the even more veteran electoral law is. Thus, successive Speakers, through resolutions shared by a clear majority, have adjusted the Chamber's activities to the unforeseen circumstances and inaccuracies in its articles; the first in that long list dates back to the Socialist Peces Barba in 1983.

The presidency's inhibition in favor of a clumsy regulatory change is incomprehensible.

This self-reform, which will be approved without the consent of the largest parliamentary group, the People's Party, or the third-largest party, will sanction improper conduct among journalists accredited to Congress. Their Lordships will understand, after consulting with the press associations, that their professional affairs are not those of the organization and functioning of the parliamentary chambers, which the Rules of Procedure have dealt with until now. Is it worth leading the Plenary to another notable division within it, in response to the repeated demands of those affected who have the understandable itch to remain outside the power games of politics, including parliamentary politics?

The urgent need was to avoid dragging out a problem of coexistence any longer, which is not the ostentatious bias toward the pro-government positions of some new media outlets, as the ERC spokesperson maintains. But this refusal to resign itself to interviews that escalate to mocking confrontations recorded on the street, to altercations and disdain for the person appearing at press conferences, hardly justifies moving to a disciplinary regime that requires, among other measures, the intervention of personnel from the groups to maintain order in the rooms.

Wouldn't it have been enough for the Speaker of the House to continue to be responsible for handling any incident within the Parliamentary chamber, as mandated by the Constitution and the current Rules of Procedure, to the point that she could order the arrest and prosecution of anyone present, whether or not they are members? This personal reluctance, in favor of a clumsy regulatory device, another Frankenstein, that mixes journalists and parliamentarians, wheels that must run separately for Parliament to function, is incomprehensible.