Feijóo demands explanations from the Prime Minister and questions his support for the commission of inquiry on health contracts
Alberto Núñez Feijóo was forceful yesterday in his speech to the Congress of Deputies. The president of the PP addressed Pedro Sánchez to reprimand him for his knowledge and silence about the corruption network that affects his party and his Government due to the Koldo case. “You knew it and you covered it up. Without funnels,” said Feijóo, who based his accusation on the fact that Sánchez dismissed José Luis Ábalos as Minister of Transport and appointed him senator to protect him from justice . “You expelled Mr. Ábalos because he knew what was happening in his ministry and you shielded him because he knew what was happening in his party,” insisted Feijóo, who added that this scandal “is born at the head of his party, it is installed at the heart of his Government and marks the origin of his political career”.
Sánchez responded to Feijóo by defending that the PSOE and its Government are “relentless with corruption” and that they set an example by “assuming political responsibilities beyond judicial responsibilities”. Without directly referring to Ábalos, who announced on Tuesday his move to the Mixed Group, Sánchez emphasized that his formation acts “with facts and with actions, collaborating with justice, with transparency and accountability in this Parliament “. In addition, he took the opportunity to criticize the leaders of the PP for the “hundreds” of corruption cases affecting his party. “This is a Government incompatible with corruption, which does not cover it up, which fights it head-on and does it, not with empty words like you, but the opposite of what you do,” replied Sánchez.
The PSOE proposes a commission to audit the health contracts of all the autonomous regions
The PSOE, in an attempt to dilute the controversy over the Koldo case, which has opened a new breach in the Sánchez Government, proposed that Congress investigate “the procurement processes for the acquisition of health equipment by public administrations during the pandemic crisis”. The socialists want the commission of inquiry to cover all the autonomous communities, including those governed by the PP, to highlight possible irregularities in the management of the pandemic. The PP did not clarify whether it will support this initiative, which depends on its majority in the Congress Bureau. The leaders of the hard core of Feijóo avoided commenting on this issue, while the PP of the Community of Madrid, chaired by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, rejected it outright.
Alfonso Serrano, Ayuso’s right-hand man in the party, argued that the creation of the commission has political and legal reasons. As for the former, Serrano assured that the socialists want to apply “the squid technique”, so that “everything is talked about and everyone is smeared so that the Ábalos case is not discussed”. According to the general secretary of the Madrid PP, Sánchez is looking for “a prospective commission to see what it finds” and try to “hide his own scandals”. Regarding the legal reasons, Serrano expressed that he has “doubts” that Congress “can even investigate matters that affect other administrations that have their own controls, such as regional parliaments.”
Ábalos assures that he will continue to vote with the Government after moving to the Mixed Group
Ábalos does not give up. The former minister reiterated yesterday to his former colleagues that he will maintain his support for the Government. “The Government will have my vote, without a doubt,” he declared in an interview with RAC1. The first of many after his move to the Mixed Group, as he wants to focus on defending his “honorability”. Ábalos denied any link with the corruption plot that revolves around Ábalos’ former adviser, Koldo García, and assured that he resigned as minister for “political responsibility” and for “loyalty” to President Sánchez. “I have nothing to hide or fear,” said Ábalos, who asked that the presumption of innocence be respected and that justice be done.
