The former socialist minister José Luis Ábalos announced this Tuesday that he is not going to resign his status as a deputy in Congress as the PSOE has demanded of him so that he assume political responsibility for the Koldo case: the accusations against his former advisor Koldo García of collecting commissions in mask purchases during the pandemic. The seat is personal, so only Ábalos has the decision to keep it or leave it. Ábalos continues as a deputy and will move to the Mixed Group, since the Socialist Group has expelled him. It will not be the only change in this new stage that opens in Congress for whom he was Minister of Development (2018-2021) and Secretary of Organization of the PSOE (2017-2021), which will have new conditions.
Like any other deputy, Ábalos will maintain the capacity that corresponds to him and, if he has to respond to justice for the Koldo case, he can only be investigated by the Supreme Court. The Constitution includes in its article 71.3 the capacity of deputies and senators, for whose prosecution only the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court is competent. The former minister is thus protected judicially before the judge of the Koldo case and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office: if suspicions are found of his involvement in the alleged corruption plot in the purchase of masks in the Koldo case, he will not be able to be investigated by the National Court, which is the judicial instance that has put a magnifying glass on this plot. To investigate Ábalos, the investigating judge in charge of the case should submit to the Supreme Court a reasoned statement with relevant evidence against him, as established by the Criminal Procedure Law, and the Supreme Court decides whether to open proceedings. All of this complicates any immediate action against him.
Like any other deputy, he will maintain the constitutional allocation of 3,142.14 euros per month, which is identical for everyone. To this base salary is added compensation, which in his case, having stood for election as a candidate for Valencia, is 2,018.41 euros per month, which corresponds to deputies from constituencies other than Madrid. It is an amount dedicated to covering expenses and therefore exempt from taxation, in accordance with the provisions of art. 17.2 b) of Law 35/2006, of November 28. These emoluments he will maintain.
However, Ábalos resigned this Monday from the presidency of the Congressional Interior Commission, a position with which he was compensated this legislature to expand his payroll, and which to date has meant adding more than 5,000 euros per month already. cited another 1,598.13 euros per month, as representation expenses. By leaving the presidency of the Interior committee, he has also lost an assistant who corresponded to him like all the presidents of a parliamentary committee.
Congress provides all deputies with an iPad, as well as a mobile phone. In addition, all of them have their own office in Congress, in the area assigned to their parliamentary group. Ábalos must move to the offices of the Mixed Group, as the Podemos deputies did a few weeks ago after their departure from the Sumar parliamentary group.
In his new career, Ábalos will continue to enjoy, like any parliamentarian, travel aid. Congress covers the expenses of transportation by public means (plane, train, car or boat) of the deputies, as well as the expenses derived from parking at train stations and airports. This is a reimbursement of expenses, that is, an amount is not provided to the parliamentarian, but rather the ticket is paid directly to the transport company.
If the deputy uses his car when traveling to the Chamber to carry out his parliamentary duties, he is paid, after justification, 0.26 euros per kilometer and, where applicable, the amounts of motorway tolls. Since May 2006, Congress has provided each deputy who does not have an official vehicle with a personalized card that allows them to pay for the taxi service in the city of Madrid, with a current annual limit of 3,000 euros.
Deputies only receive per diems for trips they make on official trips expressly authorized by the Board. It is 150 euros per day for trips abroad and 120 euros per day for trips within Spain.
Upon being expelled from the Socialist Group, Ábalos will move to the Mixed Group of the Lower House, where he will have new colleagues in the legislature: the four deputies from Podemos, the deputy from the Canary Coalition, the one from UPN and the one from the BNG. There will be eight parliamentarians instead of the current seven, so a new distribution of speaking time will have to be made.
There will also be changes for the Socialist and Mixed groups in assignments. The Chamber has set a fixed subsidy for each parliamentary group of 30,346.72 euros per month. To this is added a variable subsidy depending on the number of seats, which is 1,746.16 euros per month per deputy. That is, the Socialist Group will lose the allocation of 1,746.16 euros that corresponded to it for Ábalos, and that the Mixed group wins.
All deputies have the right to an advisor. According to the regulations, groups can propose the appointment of a number of assistants that does not exceed the ratio of one per deputy, so all groups have as many advisors as deputies. With the departure of Ábalos, the socialists lose one assistant (from 121 to 120), and the Mixto gains one, which as a group with less than ten deputies already has an additional advisor, as coordinator. The ERC, Junts, Bildu and PNV groups also have this extra assistant, so in total there are 355 advisors for 350 deputies.
