Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo brought her accusations against Pedro Sánchez for the electoral census to Murcia this Tuesday and called on the Constitutional Court to "not be an accomplice to Sánchez's maneuvers against democracy". The PP deputy linked the controversy over the vote of those naturalized by the so-called 'grandchildren's law' with an alleged attempt at "rigging" and called for massive participation in the elections on November 29.
Her statements were made with her possible incorporation as Alberto Núñez Feijóo's number two for Madrid still pending confirmation. The popular leader gave clues this morning that point to her, although the parliamentarian avoided confirming her position in the candidacy.
Álvarez de Toledo participated in a dialogue at the Real Casino de Murcia with the mayor, Rebeca Pérez, moderated by the regional PP secretary general, José Miguel Luengo, and also attended by Fernando López Miras. There she presented the elections as a moral choice. "Spain has to choose between delinquency or decency", she affirmed, before defending a "revolution of decency".
The deputy described Sánchez's years in government as "the era of indecency", linking references to "sewers", "saunas", "bribes", "mafias" and "narcos". She also accused the president of fostering division and assured that "Sánchez's strategy of hatred has already failed".
The accusations about the census
The most direct attack on electoral guarantees came when addressing the grandchildren's law. "Sánchez began by rigging his own party and now he has made maneuvers to try to rig another one, but this time against Spanish democracy, against all Spaniards", she maintained. She then called for these suspicions to be turned into electoral mobilization. "The more suspicions there are about Sánchez's maneuvers, the stronger, more decisive, and more massive our vote must be," she declared.
The judicial controversy affects the external vote of people who acquired nationality through the Democratic Memory Law and the instruction that develops it. On October 12, the Supreme Court maintained the precautionary suspension affecting 163,020 people registered in the census of absent residents, with the exception of those who prove the exile of their ancestors in the terms required by the court. The resolution maintains the provisional measures while the procedure on the merits of the matter continues.
The Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, appealed that suspension before the Constitutional Court last Friday and requested urgent precautionary measures to protect the right to suffrage of those affected on 29N. The debate that the court must address therefore includes the guarantees of a fundamental right of Spanish citizens residing abroad.
From the Murcian PSOE, Miguel Ortega has reproached Álvarez de Toledo for questioning the electoral system without providing evidence. He has demanded that she "go to court" if she has indications of a maneuver to alter the elections and has defended the vote of those affected. "If the grandchildren of Francoism can vote, the grandchildren of exile can too," he replied.
Vox and the "strong State"
Asked about the conversations between the PP and the far-right Vox for the Senate, Álvarez de Toledo explained that she does not participate in those negotiations. She added that her party "always puts the interest of Spain before any partisan or personal interest" and presented Sánchez's departure from Moncloa as " an ethical emergency" and "a national ethical urgency".
The contacts between both formations were confirmed this Tuesday by Feijóo. The popular leader has proposed compensating Vox with senators of autonomous designation if it renounces to present candidates in certain constituencies. The conversations take place after the agreement between the PSOE and Broad Front forces to run together for the Senate and dispute the PP's absolute majority.
In her defense of the popular project, Álvarez de Toledo has promised that, with Feijóo, "Spain will have a strong State that guarantees order and freedom", because "there is no freedom without order and there is no order without authority". She has listed among her objectives to defend national sovereignty, regulate immigration, support the middle classes, promote housing for young people and protect pensions.
Regarding her own place in that project, the deputy has described as "media speculations" the information that places her as number two for Madrid. Feijóo had indicated on COPE that his companion would be a woman who voted against the amnesty and who requested the appearance of the director of the CNI in the Official Secrets Commission, two references that point to Álvarez de Toledo.
