The PP takes its offensive against corruption to Congress and demands elections: "This Government is incapacitated"

Cuca Gamarra has positioned the call for elections as the Popular Party's first measure to "recover public integrity" in Spain. The deputy secretary of Institutional Regeneration announced this Monday from the party's national headquarters that the PP will register a non-legislative motion in Congress to urge Pedro Sánchez to dissolve the Cortes or submit to a vote of confidence.

"We must give the floor to the Spanish people to be able to choose a clean Government," Gamarra defended. The popular leader believes that Sánchez is "disqualified and incapacitated" to promote any regeneration due to the judicial cases and convictions affecting former socialist leaders and people in his circle.

Her harshest attack came when referring to the Public Integrity Law that the Executive is preparing. "For him to intend to approve a Public Integrity Law is like putting a vampire in charge of a blood donor bank," she stated before accusing the Government of being "the greatest expert in corruption" in the country.

Elections, dismissals and harsher penalties

The initiative announced by the PP will demand elections or a vote of confidence, although its approval would be political in nature and would have no legal effects on the continuity of the Government. The power to dissolve the Cortes belongs to the president, who maintains his intention to exhaust the legislature.

Gamarra recalled that Congress approved on June 25, by 177 votes to 171, a motion asking Sánchez to submit to a vote of confidence or call elections. The Senate backed another similar initiative thanks to the absolute majority of the PP. Both resolutions are non-binding, but Génova uses them to argue that the Executive has lost the parliamentary support with which it began the legislature.

The popular package also proposes toughening penalties for corruption, expanding protection for those who report irregularities, and restricting pardons. The PP wants to prevent high-ranking officials convicted of crimes committed during the exercise of their functions from receiving a measure of grace.

Another measure would oblige any high-ranking official investigated for corruption to immediately leave their post. Gamarra has used this approach to demand the departure of the president of SEPI and the director general of the Civil Guard, Mercedes González, investigated for alleged crimes of prevarication and obstruction of justice within the 'Leire Díez case'.

González testified on July 17 before Judge Santiago Pedraz and denied having interfered in UCO investigations or pressured its agents. The director acknowledged three meetings with Leire Díez, although she maintained that she rejected the requests she received and that she never participated in any operation against the investigative unit.

The PP will also demand the immediate dismissal of the president of the Sociological Research Center, José Félix Tezanos, and a reform of the body to reinforce its neutrality. Génova also proposes an independent authority that groups several control bodies and limits direct dependence on the Government.

The proposal includes recovering the penalties for embezzlement prior to the reform approved at the end of 2022. That modification distinguished between cases with personal enrichment and those in which public funds were destined for a purpose other than that intended, a difference that the PP has been promising to eliminate for years.

The cases that the PP places around Sánchez

Gamarra has built her offensive around the latest judicial resolutions. She has mentioned the conviction of José Luis Ábalos by the Supreme Court, sentenced to 24 years and three months in prison for criminal organization, bribery, embezzlement, and influence peddling. She has also cited the nine years of disqualification imposed on David Sánchez for prevarication and the investigation opened against Santos Cerdán.

The popular leader has added to that block the conviction of former attorney general Álvaro García Ortiz for revealing secrets. The Supreme Court imposed two years of disqualification from office, a fine of 7,200 euros, and compensation of 10,000 euros to Alberto González Amador, Isabel Díaz Ayuso's partner.

Begoña Gómez has also occupied a part of her intervention. The Provincial Court of Madrid has confirmed that the president's wife will be tried by a popular jury for the alleged crimes of influence peddling and embezzlement. The same resolution removed business corruption and misappropriation from the jury procedure, in addition to withdrawing all personal precautionary measures that Judge Juan Carlos Peinado had imposed.

Gamarra has also pointed to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, whom she considers Sánchez's "political and moral reference." The former president is under investigation in the 'Plus Ultra case' and has denied having made arrangements with the Government or SEPI to facilitate the airline's rescue. Regarding the jewels valued at 1.3 million euros found in his office, Zapatero assured that they were a "courtesy gift" and admitted that accepting them could have constituted an error.

The Government approved the Preliminary Draft Organic Law on Public Integrity in its first reading last February. The text brings together 84 measures and modifies up to 18 laws, with an independent agency, greater controls over high-ranking officials, protection for whistleblowers, and new tools against fraud in contracting. The project still needs to complete its processing before reaching Congress.

Unity against fires and reproach for housing

The press conference has also been marked by the fires affecting different parts of Spain. Gamarra has conveyed the "solidarity, support, and affection" of the PP to the people evacuated, confined, or affected by the fire and has thanked the work of firefighters, Security Forces, UME, Civil Protection, and volunteers.

The popular leader has asked that administrations maintain a joint response because "fires do not understand administrative borders, political colors, or acronyms." She has also supported Feijóo's proposal to create a more coordinated national Civil Protection system and reach a state agreement for prevention and response to natural risks with stable and multi-year funding.

Gamarra has also taken advantage of the delay in the royal decree on housing to question the Executive's parliamentary capacity. The Government has postponed its approval until September due to differences with its partners on the Land Law, tax incentives, and the extension of rental agreements. For the popular leader, the postponement shows that Spain has a Government "that cannot govern".

Feijóo is already in Peru to attend Keiko Fujimori's inauguration this Tuesday. Gamarra has framed the trip within the defense of ties with Ibero-America and has called for greater involvement from Spain and the European Union in the face of the democratic closure announced by Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.

The appearance ended with the PP's condemnation of the attack perpetrated on Saturday night against Berlin Pride, which left one person dead and numerous injured. Gamarra has expressed her party's "repulsion" and has reaffirmed its defense of freedoms against fanaticism.

The PP will now register its proposal in Congress. Although the initiative again obtains a favorable majority, its approval will not oblige Sánchez to call elections or to submit to a vote of confidence.