“Afraid? Nothing!”, warn high-ranking officials of the central government and the leadership of the PSOE. The unexpected move of former minister José Luis Ábalos to the mixed group in Congress caused “pain and sadness” among the Socialists, and culminated an unusual challenge that questioned the authority of Pedro Sánchez in his own ranks, shielded from that in 2017 he regained the leadership of the party in the midst of militancy, and even more since in 2018 he became the president of the Spanish Government.
The departure of Ábalos, who was a key figure in Sánchez regaining command of the PSOE and then arriving in Moncloa, implies more turbulence for the Government and for Ferraz. In an already very complicated moment, after the electoral fall in Galicia, which once again shows the loss of territorial and institutional power of the socialists, and while the course of the legislature continues pending the unlocking or not of the Amnesty law, which which at the same time keeps the first general budgets of the mandate up in the air.
But the Central Government and the leadership of the PSOE try to minimize the impact of Ábalos’ departure, to the same extent that the right tries to amplify it in order to get some piece of big game and destabilize Sánchez. They assure the Executive that they are not at all afraid of an Ábalos already out of party discipline, because they insist that they have nothing to hide, and rule out a threat to the legislature, because the former minister himself guaranteed them that he will maintain the vote for the PSOE in all initiatives.
The round of interviews that Ábalos is giving does not worry them either. “He is defending himself”, they assume. And no one in the Central Government and the leadership of the PSOE is questioning how he acted when he was required to give up his seat to take political responsibility for the Koldo case, even if he is not being investigated for this scandal. There is also unanimity that the decision to go to the mixed group is a mistake. “He is making a mistake in self-defence”, they admit. Although they are still pending the course of the judicial inquiries, for now the calm remains. “There is no judicial innovation, there is no politics”, they say to Ferraz.
And Moncloa activated the strategy to deal with the right-wing offensive in the face of this crisis. “It’s not him and you anymore”, they allege. They aim to differentiate the ways of dealing with corruption. “The PSOE acts quickly, forcefully and transparently, and the PP covers up and hides.” Sánchez emphasized this yesterday: “This Government cuts dry, others cut off the heads of those who denounce corruption”.
The possible repercussions of the Koldo case were also widely debated among PSOE allies. Some and others agree that Ábalos’ decision to despise the party to take refuge in the mixed group – and hold on to the seat – “weakens” Sánchez. But they consider it impossible that, as the PP intends, “this should topple him”.
And far from taking advantage of the situation to deepen the wound or settle outstanding accounts, the coalition partners and those of the investiture choose to shelter Sánchez from the harsh criticism launched by the opposition, stressing that his “trust” remains “intact “.
A loyalty that, in the case of the Basque and Catalan nationalist formations, obeys the shared interest in pushing forward an Amnesty law that, this time, is “moving forward without setbacks”.
The criticisms, in fact, are minimal. “It is clear that the PSOE negotiated badly with Ábalos and it should not have come to this situation”, point out, separately, from Sumar and EH Bildu. But “the goals of the legislature will prevail and this affair will not derail the legislature.”
Sánchez’s allies, moreover, insist on putting the focus on Ábalos: “Sánchez has cut ties and asked him for the minutes of deputy. I could have done better, but that’s all I can do. It is Ábalos who must assume his political responsibility. We must be relentless in the face of corruption and demonstrate it to the public”, they insist from the space led by Yolanda Díaz.
The PNB expresses itself in the same vein, although sources from the nationalist formation underline the need for both the PSOE to issue “explanations beyond those that are being heard through the media”.
