The First Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, has admitted that the State Attorney's Office, which represents the Executive, "has reached the limit" of its powers in relation to the so-called 'grandchildren law' and has urged those affected by the paralysis of the right to vote of those naturalized by that norm to move forward to assert their suffrage.
In an interview on 'RNE', reported by Europa Press, Cuerpo indicated that the State Attorney's Office can no longer advance further in this case, after the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court confirmed this Monday the suspension of the right to vote of those naturalized by the 'grandchildren law' in the general elections of November 29, a precautionary measure agreed in September at the request of Vox and Iustitia Europa.
Asked what the Government will do so that these people can vote, the minister stressed that the legal path is now in the hands of those affected, around 160,000 naturalized citizens, who would not be able to participate in the elections on 29N unless they prove that they are descendants of exiles. "It is up to the affected people to move forward to assert their right to vote and we hope they succeed," he defended, while insisting that "now the State Attorney's Office cannot continue to advance in this case and legally it is up to the affected people."
"A political origin" and an "enormous" prejudice
Cuerpo attributed "a political origin" to the paralysis of the right to vote of the beneficiaries of the 'grandchildren law' and rejected that this norm electorally benefits the PSOE. "Of course not," he exclaimed when asked about that point.
The first vice president stressed that the root of the decision, after the appeals presented by Vox and Iustitia Europa, is that they denounce an "alteration of the census," although he maintained that, when analyzing it, "there is no substance." "The origin has to do with a fundamental political argument that I believe is not sustainable when we look at the figures," he affirmed.
Therefore, he asked to "take a step back" and assess "the magnitude of the prohibition of a right," which he described as an "enormous prejudice for 160,000 people" compared to the electoral impact attributed to it.
Participation data and the debate on electoral impact
To downplay the argument of an alleged "electoral engineering," Cuerpo resorted to participation data and explained that, in general elections, the percentage usually moves "around 10% in some general elections, 20% in the most, 5% in others," so that, according to his calculations, "of these 160,000 people, about 20, 30,000 people end up voting."
"We are all aware that this will not alter the outcome of the elections in any way, but in return, de facto, Spanish people are being deprived of their right to vote," he affirmed, before being asked if the Supreme Court intervenes in the political game. "I don't know," he replied, while defending that "it is necessary to exhaust all legal avenues" so that this right can be exercised.
Criticism of the PP for sowing doubts about postal voting
At another point in the interview, Cuerpo criticized the PP for questioning the fairness of the electoral process, especially postal voting, and warned that "when accusations of this type are made, they cannot be made lightly," in allusion to the distrust expressed towards the executives of companies such as Correos.
The minister challenged anyone who has doubts to "put evidence on the table and file a specific complaint," because, in his opinion, what is happening is a detriment "to the credibility of our institutions." He described this attitude as "not sufficiently responsible" and defended that the Spanish voting system "is among the safest in the world," so, he said, the damage of sowing doubts without evidence "goes far beyond the possible electoral gain."
Arcadi España accuses the PP of practicing "pure Trumpism"
For his part, the Minister of Finance, Arcadi España, has called the PP's strategy of questioning postal voting, as well as that of descendants of Spaniards living in other countries, "pure Trumpism." In an interview on 'La hora de La 1', on TVE, he explained that the popular party has gone "to buy insurance, which is what Trump did," by questioning the system before the vote.
"If I win, I have won and the system works, but if I lose I can say that I already said it and that the system was not clean. That, which is pure Trumpism, undermines confidence in the system," he criticized. In that sense, he said he missed the PP resembling "that of the transition" and lamented that it is now "infected by Vox" by "rejoicing" that there are Spaniards "who do not have the full set of rights that any Spanish person has."
