The PSOE and Sumar have managed to bring their positions closer regarding the bill that proposes granting Spanish nationality to those born in Western Sahara during the Spanish administration period. With this new climate of understanding, the subcommittee of the Justice Commission of Congress will meet next Tuesday with the aim of advancing its processing.
The legislative proposal remained paralyzed in Congress's 'deep freeze' for over a year. Since April, the plurinational group, the driving force behind the initiative, has been trying to reactivate it by offering the other progressive forces, including the PSOE, a series of transactional amendments that would integrate the different contributions into a single text.
The aim was to gain the support of the Socialists, who had so far avoided backing the rule, which caused discontent among deputy Tesh Sidi, of Sahrawi origin. The parliamentarian even sent a request for protection to the President of Congress, Francina Armengol, demanding that she put an end to the PSOE's blockade of this proposal.
In parallel, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, declared last Wednesday that he was "totally in favor" of granting nationality to those born under Spanish administration and denied that there was a veto or deliberate paralysis of this initiative.
This Friday, the spokesperson for Sumar in the Justice Commission and leader of IU, Enrique Santiago, announced on his social media that, together with the PSOE, they have managed to unblock the processing of the law, accompanying his message with information published by the newspaper "Público".
Reparation for the Sahrawi people and the next steps
"The best reparation for the Sahrawi people is to support their self-determination. While that moment arrives, we are moving forward to end the neglect and discrimination that Spain has made them suffer. We are unblocking the Sahrawi nationality law," he stated in a message disseminated on the social network "X".
The main parliamentary partners of the Government, and even the PP, are in favor of this regulation. The key will be to see if Tuesday's meeting allows for a consensus to be reached among the different groups on the final text, which would open the door for its sending to the Plenary for a final vote.
However, Tuesday coincides with the last day of the current ordinary session period. To prevent the law from returning to the 'freezer', it will be necessary to request the enabling of the month of July, so that the Justice Commission can continue with the processing and the project reaches the Plenary in one of the two extraordinary sessions planned before August.