The Government and its usual parliamentary partners are preparing the lists of witnesses for the new commission of inquiry in the Congress of Deputies that will investigate – for the third time – the actions of the political police to do and undo in the Ministry of the Interior during the last Popular Party governments.
The appearance schedule, which will probably be set tomorrow, may coincide with the regional and local election campaign that will begin on May 12. In addition, the parliamentary allies will keep the letter of being able to expand the list of attendees – with names such as those of the popular ex-presidents Mariano Rajoy and Pablo Casado – in a second turn in the face of the last moments of the legislature, after the shutdown summer, with the general election campaign around the corner.
Yesterday, the commission of inquiry was formally constituted with the election of the spokesperson of the Democratic Party (PDECat) in Congress, Ferran Bel, as president. There were no alternative candidates, so whoever was proposed by the Socialists was appointed by consent. A moderate profile that has the support of all the promoters of the commission. “An excellent parliamentarian, the perfect referee”, in the words of Gabriel Rufián (ERC) for a commission that aims to focus much of the work on operation Catalonia, orchestrated from the Interior to attack pro-independence leaders when Jorge Fernández Díaz was its most responsible.
According to parliamentary sources, the drafts that are already being exchanged by the parties match names such as that of Fernández Díaz – who the prosecution is asking for 15 years in prison for the Kitchen case – that of his former number two in the Interior, Francisco Martínez, or that of the former secretary general from
In addition, the pro-independence parties will try to bring to Congress the former vice-president of the Government Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, who was not named last year because of the health problem she was going through. Already recovered, the minority partners have no doubts that their testimony “may be key” to shed light on parapolice maneuvers against independence. All are aware of the political wear and tear that the commission can cause the PP. And they will not waste the opportunity.
The socialists, as already happened in the last commission, also have doubts about the advisability of citing the highest representative of the so-called sewers of the
In the lists of uniformed persons proposed – a large part of them retired or suspended from pay and work by the Ministry of the Interior until there is a ruling – to attend the
