Alex Trelinski
AFTER LAST WEEK’S investiture, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced his cabinet(Council of Ministers) on Monday lunchtime with few surprises in the major portfolios.
The majority of 23 posts in the PSOE-led administration(including Sanchez) are held by women(12), and there are nine new faces around the cabinet table.
Finance Minister, María Jesus Montero, will become one of four deputy prime ministers, meaning that females exclusively occupy the deputy roles.
Felix Bolaños, who in addition to continuing as Cabinet Office minister, assumes the Justice brief.
He will have to see through the proposed controversial amnesty law that was integral in securing a deal with the Catalan separatist party, Junts.
Ecologicial Transition Minister Teresa Ribera, Maria Jesus Montero, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares and Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz, the head of the left-wing Sumar grouping, all keep their pre-election posts.
“It’s a high-profile political team for a high-profile political legislature,” Sanchez said in a televised address.
“They are people capable of governing but also of reaching agreements,” he added.
Among the new ministers is the former mayor of Valladolid, Oscar Puente, who will take over Transport, and the new Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, who replaces Irene Montero from the far-left Podemos party, who has left the cabinet along with its leader Ione Belarra.
As part of the coalition deal with the PSOE, the new left-wing Sumar grouping has five cabinet posts: Culture, Health, Social Rights and Youth & Children, as well as the Vice-Presidency of Labour.
READ MORE:
- Pedro Sanchez sworn in as Spain’s prime minister in presence of King Felipe VI
- Pedro Sanchez voted back in as Spain’s prime minister after securing controversial support of Catalan separatists
