The alleged 'box B' of Podemos shakes the Government

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The dribbles and evasions with which the socialist branch of the Government tries to distance itself from the imputation of Podemos for alleged irregular financing reached the president this Wednesday. Pedro Sánchez was forced to come to the defense of the judges to cushion the frontal attack of Pablo Iglesias's party against the instructor of his case in a Madrid court. Uncomfortable with the assumption by his partner in the Council of Ministers of this hostile strategy, the President of the Government demanded the "maximum respect" -three times- for the judges and underlined their "independence".

"I think I have been quite clear: maximum respect for the work of the judiciary," said Sánchez on the third occasion in which he was asked by journalists during the press conference he gave at the Marivent Palace, in Palma de Mallorca, after hold a meeting with King Felipe VI.

Sticking to that idea again and again, and without defending Podemos at any time, Sánchez dodged questions from the press about the party without evaluating or getting to the bottom of the matter. Nor in the consequences that this case could have at some point in the stability of the coalition government if the investigation shows signs of a crime of embezzlement.

It should be remembered that Podemos accounts are currently under investigation, especially those of the general election campaign of April 2019. The party has been charged as a legal entity, as have three of the members of its leadership, including , Juanma del Olmo, one of Pablo Iglesias's closest collaborators within the position structure of the Second Vice Presidency of the Government.

Another scandal: the 'Dina case'

The problem for the government is that scandals and investigations accumulate on the table for the minority partner of the coalition, projecting an image of instability. If financing is already a sensitive enough issue in itself, the investigations that are being followed in the National Court on the Dina case and that are tightening the fence on the behavior of Pablo Iglesias, when he held for months and without warning the memory card of her former advisor Dina Bousselham's mobile.

In addition, the judge is investigating whether a false complaint could be made about the whole matter of the telephone to present himself a month before the elections as an accredited victim of the State sewers .

With so much trouble, Podemos has chosen to mud the ground and shoot at judges, media and specific journalists for reporting on the details of the investigations and the decisions that are being made by the instructors.

Iglesias did it openly, at the time. from the press room of Moncloa and his co-legionaries are doing it in the last hours on any channel they have. But who they are attacking in the last hours is the head of the Court of Instruction number 42 of Madrid, Juan José Escalonilla , who is accused of opening a "general case" against Podemos and a "prospective investigation" in order to get the party going. of the government.

The leaders of Podemos defend themselves

"In addition to being undemocratic, the lawfare discredits justice", said Pablo Echenique. "The power revolting to remove from the Government those who do not follow its orders," said the Secretary of Organization, Alberto Rodríguez .

The leaders of Podemos reprimand Escalonilla saying that he acts without evidence and criticize that he has based his investigation on the testimony of the person responsible for the Podemos legal team, José Manuel Calvente , from whose complaint the entire investigation into the Podemos accounts and the alleged financial irregularities.

However, last week EL MUNDO reported that the Court of Auditors has also warned of unjustified items worth 400,000 euros. Both Calvente and the supervisory court, both in parallel, coincide in pointing out their doubts about the contracts of the purple party with the company Neurona Comunidad SL .

In his attack against the judge, Podemos has also linked his performance with the motion of censure that Vox will present in September. "It needs seasoning," Rafael Mayoral said on Cadena Ser on Wednesday , in an interview in which he accused the judge of doing "strange things" and allowing a "political use" of this whole matter to harm them.

The responses of the socialists

The fact is that since Podemos is a party within the Government, the judicial consequences also shake the coalition Executive. The example is that, this Wednesday, both Sánchez and the spokesperson and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, were forced to respond to the press about the problems of their partner, even if it was to go off on the tangent of what they were asked. .

Sánchez limited himself to asking for respect for the judges and Montero said he had "little to add" to those raised by Podemos. So he focused on defending that the Government is "strong", is "cohesive" and "has four years ahead."

Far from this perception, the opposition demands immediate explanations from Podemos and Iglesias and for integrating an Executive that arose from a motion of censure justified by a box B in the PP.

Pablo Casado collected phrases from Sánchez and Iglesias when the accounts investigated were those of the PP: "Sánchez: 'It is not democratic regeneration to lead irregularly financed parties and support their government'"; "Iglesias: 'Only an incompetent does not know what happens in his party'". For this reason, the leader of the PP then ruled: " Box B demands the dismissal of Sánchez's vice president with the same yardstick as his motion of censure."

Cs asks Iglesias to give "his face"

For its part, Ciudadanos requested Iglesias to appear in Congress and urged him to "show his face" on a case he has not yet spoken before. In his letter, the orange formation asks him to appear in the Democratic Quality and Anti-Corruption Commission for the "information regarding the irregular financing of United We Can and the recent accusation of both the party and its senior officials and the role of the vice president in this issue". "Spaniards deserve to know the role played by the second vice president in this matter," said Edmundo Bal.

For Santiago Abascal, from Vox, the imputation of Podemos is one more reason for the motion of censure, because "that money - he said - comes from drug dictatorships and totalitarian regimes."

While the political front is on fire, in the judicial field, Podemos has presented an appeal before the Provincial Court of Madrid requesting the nullity of the case and the charges, claiming defenselessness in a cause that, he emphasizes, "starts from mere suspicions without support. evidence, "reports Efe .

The appeal was filed last week. We can harshly charge the judge for having pursued the case in "disproportionate, vague and imprecise" terms by leading a "prospective investigation that seriously disturbs the presumption of innocence and the right to defense."

The cause is "generic and undetermined" and "part of mere suspicions without any probative support", the party abounds, which criticizes that the judge has agreed to a series of proceedings "without specific motivation" and has admitted Vox with "speed" as popular prosecution without bail.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• We can
• Pablo Iglesias
• Vox
• Citizens
• PP
• United we can
• Pedro Sanchez
• National audience
• Dina bousselham

Sigma Two Survey Four out of 10 PSOE voters want Podemos out of Government

SIGMA DOS survey Spaniards praise the reign of Juan Carlos I but ask him to answer to justice

Politics The CIS of Tezanos extends the advantage of Pedro Sánchez another two points in 12 days in the middle of the outbreak of coronavirus

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