Concern in the PSOE about the “Ábalos case”: “It looks fatal”

The Government has tried to remain unaware of the “Koldo case” during all these months, but the progress of the investigations and the direct involvement of the former Minister of Transport and all-powerful Secretary of Organization of the PSOE gives a new dimension to the scandal. The derived “Ábalos case” now points directly to the Executive and threatens other aspects in territories such as the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, which would affect the current head of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, and the president of Congress, Francina Armengol, respectively, who were then presidents. of both regions. A threat of institutional collapse that is already generating concern in the party. “It looks terrible,” acknowledges a leaderwhich appears “overcome” by the avalanche of information that has derived from the UCO reports.

This is the first case of corruption that impacts the progressive Government after more than six years in power. The background of the plot, which did business with illegal commissions in the worst of the pandemic, is especially devastating if we take into account that Pedro Sánchez arrived at La Moncloa in 2018 on the back of a motion of censure against Mariano Rajoy against “corruption”alluding to the “Gürtel plot”. At this point, the Executive puts its credit on the line in the treatment and reaction to a cause that already affects the former top leader of the Ministry of Transport and Secretary of Organization of the PSOE, José Luis Ábalos. The reports from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) give it a “relevant” and “responsible” role within the criminal network.

In a first reaction, after the content of said report became known and the judge investigating the case asked Congress to confirm whether Ábalos is a deputy, a step prior to the accusation, the attitude of the Government and the PSOE was to mark distances. with the one who was minister and number three of the party. “He is out”, the sources consulted bluntly summarizewhich show his departure from the Executive in 2021 and, more recently, the launch of an audit by the current holder of the portfolio, Óscar Puente to purge any responsibility of the positions that still continued in the ministry. It is, therefore, about erecting a firewall, given the concern that new information could place the Government in an even more compromised situation. Official sources from the Executive try to convey tranquility. “Zero concern,” they say, but the nervousness is notable. “We’re going to wait and see how everything evolves,” a Cabinet member is cautious.

At the party level, the leadership sources consulted also remember that Ábalos was “immediately” suspended from membership when news of his alleged involvement began to emerge and he was expelled from the Socialist Parliamentary Group. Everything, in an exercise of “exemplarity”, they presume, which has not occurred in other cases within the PSOE itself, nor within the PP, they denounce. Ábalos himself has tried on several occasions – the last one this October – to force his re-entry into the party, but now, the management anticipates, this will not happen and the expulsion will end up materializing. The inflexible attitude towards his former Secretary of Organization does not appease the internal unrest. “We acted immediately, but the feeling is that there is still a lot to come out,” they say at the game.

Another leader shows his disquiet at the image of collapse conveyed by the Executive. To the “Begoña Gómez case” and the transfers to the Basque and Catalan nationalists is now added a very sensitive issue that affects Sánchez’s founding core. “Ábalos was the one who intervened in the motion of censure against Rajoy,” recalls another leaderwhich does not hide the enormous amount of internal information that the former minister has handled due to his different positions of responsibility.

Other government sources, for their part, subscribe to caution and are in favor of advancing the investigations and their willingness to collaborate in whatever is necessary to clarify the facts. This was done in private, because in public, the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, deflected the issue, pointing out that “a conclusive report” argued that the rescue of Air Europa was “in accordance with the law” and that “many jobs could have been saved.” “42 million have been paid, only in interest, and the payment is up to date,” he stated from the La Moncloa press room about this loan.