The Central Electoral Board (JEC) agreed this Thursday to open disciplinary proceedings against Pedro Sánchez for his statements at the press conference on October 6 at the Palacio de la Moncloa. The electoral body considers that the president's references to his Government's achievements, his criticisms of the opposition, and his request for a broader parliamentary majority could have violated the obligation of institutional neutrality ahead of the general elections on November 29.
The decision partially upholds the complaints from the PP and Se Acabó La Fiesta and orders the Presidency to remove the questioned statements from the Moncloa website and other official channels. The procedure could result in a fine of between 300 and 3,000 euros, although the opening of the proceedings does not yet mean that a sanction has been imposed.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo's party celebrated the agreement as a political victory and accused the president of using public resources to "cheat" in the pre-campaign. "We said we wouldn't let him get away with anything: first victory achieved," he proclaimed in a statement, in which he again described that appearance as a "rally" from the seat of government.
The request for a broader majority
Sánchez appeared after the Council of Ministers that approved two new decrees on housing, following Congress's rejection of the previous ones. During his intervention, he linked the possibility of advancing in this matter with the election results. "We need a more resounding, more forceful majority, if we want to go further and we want to arrive sooner in responding to the housing crisis," he stated.
The Board also includes his references to the Executive's balance sheet, including the increase in resources allocated to protected housing and the pension reserve fund, as well as his reproaches to the groups that had overturned the decrees. Sánchez maintained that in that vote "not only did the royal decree-laws fall, but also the masks of the parliamentary groups fell."
For the JEC, these statements, considered jointly, "exceed the objective exposition of the agreements adopted by the Council of Ministers". The electoral body understands that the president introduced assessments of his management and his adversaries and related them to the need to obtain more support at the polls. Article 50.2 of the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime (LOREG) prohibits, since the electoral call, acts organized or financed by public authorities that include allusions to their achievements.
The agreement sets the limit on the use of institutional means during the electoral period. "The President of the Government can defend his political position and criticize those of other formations, but during the electoral period he cannot do so by availing himself of the public means at his disposal by virtue of his position," says the Board, which urges him to respect this duty in his next official interventions.
Two appearances with different trajectories
The JEC differentiates that press conference from the institutional declaration of October 5, when Sánchez announced the early election. At that time, the call decree had not yet been published, which came into force the next day, so the restrictions of the electoral period were not yet applicable. For this reason, it rules out opening a file for that intervention.
It does question, however, that its partisan content continues to be disseminated on official channels once the elections have been called. It also asks to remove from the Presidency website the statements from the announcement on the 5th that go beyond strictly institutional information about the 29N call.
In his allegations, Sánchez had requested to dismiss the complaint and defended that electoral legislation allows the Government to continue acting and informing of its decisions. His defense maintained that the appearance respected the principles of objectivity, transparency and equality among political formations. The Board considers, however, that the statements indicated went beyond the explanation of the approved measures.
The PP has resorted to precedents to accuse him of being a "repeat offender" and assures that he has accumulated four fines totaling 6,600 euros. Among the previous sanctions are one of 500 euros for a television interview from Moncloa during the 2019 electoral period and another of 2,200 euros for a press conference in Brussels in 2023. The possible fine for the appearance on October 6 is pending the instruction of the new file.
