The former Minister of Transport and former number three of the PSOE, José Luis Ábalos, has taken his pulse to the end. The alleged plot of mask commissions run by his advisor in the Ministry has a full impact on his figure. The PSOE set a deadline for its deputy to deliver his minutes within a limited time of 24 hours after a weekend of talks at the highest level between socialist leaders with the person involved with the aim of reaching an agreed solution to avoid harm neither the party nor himself.
Ábalos, however, has challenged Ferraz and has not complied with his demand, according to Cadena Ser. He will confirm his decision through a statement of which the Secretary of Organization of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán, had previously been informed, who, without However, he did not know its content. The former minister resigned yesterday from his position as president of the Interior Commission, but, finally, he held onto his seat and contravened the decision of the party's Federal Executive Commission, which urged him to leave his minutes within 24 hours. The PSOE has not yet received Ábalos' statement, therefore, it does not confirm Ábalos' decision to keep his seat, in the words of Santos Cerdán.
In this way, immediately afterwards, the socialists will be able to suspend him and take away his membership in the party as well as remove him from the Parliamentary Group, following an internal file, as reflected in the party's statutes. The former minister told La Sexta this Monday that he planned to “speed up the deadlines” until the end. Furthermore, he acknowledged not sharing the party's strategy by asking for his resignation because this would mean agreeing with the PP. One of the reasons that has influenced Ábalos' decision not to leave his record is because if he gives up his record as a deputy he would lose his capacity and the more than 5,000 euros he receives a month for his work. him in the Cortes Generales. By retaining the seat, he could only be charged by the Supreme Court, in the event that he was investigated in the plot of the alleged commissions for the purchase of masks during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ábalos has decided not to resign despite all the pressure that has accumulated on him. The vice president of the Government and vice secretary of the PSOE had opened the ban last week, opening the door to Ábalos, ensuring that everyone knew what decision she would make in her case. The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, did the same last Saturday at an event on the occasion of the Socialist International. He declared himself “relentless” against corruption “no matter where it comes from” and “whoever falls.” The Government spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, stated along the same lines this Sunday at an event in the Basque Country. On the same Monday, several socialist leaders, from Juan Espadas (Andalusia), José Luis Escrivá (Minister of Inclusion) and Juan Lobato (Madrid) pressured him to hand over his report immediately.
This Monday, the PSOE leadership accused the former minister of being “politically responsible” for the mask case in which his advisor is being investigated. «We do not set ourselves up as judges, but the Executive Commission of the PSOE does consider that there is a political responsibility. We hope that the delivery of the minutes will occur in the next 24 hours,” warned spokesperson Esther Peña at a press conference after the Executive made the decision “unanimously.” The PSOE thus seeks to exemplify this case so as not to fall into its own contradiction. In 2018, in the motion of censure of the PP after the ruling of the “Gürtel case”, José Luis Ábalos himself reproved the popular party for corruption with phrases that now turn against him. “We do not protect cases of corruption” or “we do not have any public official to tell to leave because he has already done so. We have a Code of Ethics », he boasted.
Ábalos, by rejecting the possibility of renouncing his record, will be assigned as a deputy within the Mixed Group and will share a parliamentary group with the four deputies from Podemos, the BNG, the Canarian Coalition and the Union for the Navarro People. His move to the Mixed Group could change the complicated parliamentary arithmetic in Congress. The PSOE now has only 120 of its own seats, plus Sumar's 27. 147 seats. From there, you will have to convince all the partners to move any law forward. The most reliable partners now are Bildu, ERC and PNV, which add up to 165 seats. From there, it needs seven votes from Junts and four from Podemos to reach 176. Ábalos' vote, in the Mixed Group, can be decisive.