The Government announces to the Senate that no minister will answer the three questions about the Koldo case

Marisa Cruz Madrid

Madrid

Updated Tuesday, April 2, 2024-13:01

• Exclusive interview Koldo García: "I offered masks to four ministries and five autonomies"

• Corruption The PP confirms that it will take Armengol to the Koldo case commission and drops that the next one will be Sánchez

The Government, through the Secretary of State for Relations with the Cortes, Rafael Simancas, announced this morning at the Senate Spokesperson's Board that no minister will respond this afternoon during the Government control session to the three questions that the popular they raised in relation to the Koldo case.

The Executive's decision is made after today this newspaper published an extensive interview with the former advisor of José Luis Ábalos and leader of the corruption plot in the sale of masks during the pandemic, in which Koldo assures that he contacted four ministries and five autonomous communities to offer them medical supplies.

The popular ones consider that with this attitude, the Government shows that it is "scared" after having "fell into panic when it sees that Koldo begins to pull the blanket and recounts his conversations with ministers and regional presidents."

The Government is trying in this way to ignore the Senate because this resignation is added to the absences of eight ministers who already excused their presence days ago in the Upper House dominated by the absolute majority of the popular ones.

The questions that the Government has refused to answer at the last minute are those posed by Senator Fernando Martínez-Maíllo, who was interested in knowing whether the leaking of confidential personal data to certain media outlets is part of the Government's communication policy, in reference to the tax data of the boyfriend of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso; the one raised by Senator María Australia Navarro on whether the Government considers that an emergency situation justifies the total absence of controls in public procurement and, finally, that of Senator Vicente Azpitarte asking whether the Government had any knowledge of the ramifications of the called Koldo plot in various sectors.

For the PP, the flight from the Government is "outrageous" and shows "very clearly what the attitude of Sánchez and his circle is towards the plot that stalks him." And they add that this is but one more step that is added to the eleven requests for appearance accumulated by the Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Felíx Bolaños, and "the fear that Minister Puente has taken over control in the Upper House."

The Popular Party insist that "Sanchez's Executive fears a lot and hides a lot" and warns that his Group "will use all the parliamentary instruments at its disposal so that the Government comes out of hiding and gives the appropriate explanations."

The questions that the senators ask in the control session may or may not be directed to a specific minister, but the Government has the ability to decide which member of the Government answers them. In this case, no minister accepts the offer. According to the communication sent by the Secretary of State for Relations with the Cortes, Rafael Simancas, Senator Australia Navarro's question will remain unanswered because the first vice president and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, is absent; that of Fernández Maíllo will also remain blank because the Minister of Education and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, cannot attend, and the one raised by Vicente Azpitarte will not be answered due to the absence of the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente. The latter will also leave blank questions from senators Teresa Pallarés, from the Plural Group, and Juanjo Ferrer, from the Confederal Left Group.

In addition, the Popular Party has announced that it will force the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, to appear in the investigative commission on the

Koldo case

in the Senate after

Koldo García Izaguirre

himself , former advisor to the former minister José Luis Ábalos, confirm that you spoke with him to recommend the defective masks with which the plot allegedly illegally profited.

Génova takes this step after learning from the interview with Koldo García published by this newspaper that the former Ábalos advisor spoke with Ángel Víctor Torres himself and with several of his main collaborators to offer his masks to the Government

of the Canary Islands

, which he bought. three lots for more than 12 million euros with "irregularities" in the contracts, according to the UCO.

Torres thus joins the president of Congress, Francina Armengol, who was the first confirmed on the list of appearances that the Popular Party will present. "They are the first two, they will not be the only ones," PP sources warned after their national spokesperson, Borja Sémper, appealed yesterday for patience when the possibility of also summoning the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, was raised. "Time to time, everything in its right moment."

"We want to know when the corrupt plot of the PSOE came into contact with Ángel Víctor Torres, what they offered him, what they agreed to and in exchange for what. We will ask these and other questions at the parliamentary headquarters. The Canary Islands, with Torres as president, has been the cradle of the

Mediator case

and one of the epicenters of the socialist plot referring to the payment of supposedly illegal commissions for the purchase of defective masks in the middle of the pandemic. The image of the Canary Islands, clouded by the management of its president and by the laxity of its Government with practices that are totally banishable from public life," they stated from the PP.

On the other hand, the PP also referred to Koldo's assertions about the arrival of Maduro's vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, to Spain loaded with suitcases whose contents are unknown and which were unloaded in the presence of members of the Government.

Given Koldo's statements, the PP announced new parliamentary questions. And he also advanced that it "reinforces" his idea of ​​also investigating what happened in this "dark episode" that night in Barajas.

"The PP will go to the end in clarifying the signs of corruption that are being detected within the Government and the PSOE, and we will be relentless in a case in which for the moment there has not been a single resignation in the environment Pedro Sánchez's politician," concluded the PP sources.

For its part, in Congress, the Sumar Group has already announced its intention to request the appearance of the president in the investigative commission that will be established this afternoon to investigate the mask contracts made by all administrations. from the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and her boyfriend, Alberto González Amador.