PP: Junts and Podemos leave Marlaska in the lurch and cause another defeat for the Government | Spain

The opposition bombs without respite, while some of the theoretical allies indulge in unmarking maneuvers. Under a massive attack by the PP for the Koldo case, the Government stumbled upon another unpleasant surprise in Congress this Thursday. The Popular Party managed to push forward a motion that calls for the dismissal of the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, thanks to the fact that Junts and Podemos distanced themselves from the majority that supports the Executive and abstained. The investiture bloc did remain united to approve the spending ceiling and the deficit path, a prior step to preparing the Budgets, but the resounding rejection of the PP prefigures a new blockade in the Senate that will force the Government to look for another way to clear the path to public accounts.

The popular ones are exultant. The scandal that has sent the former minister and former number three socialist José Luis Ábalos to the Mixed Group has acted as a euphoriant on his parliamentary bench. Every PP speaker who appears on the platform, whatever the topic being debated, from an international treaty to the financial framework of the next Budget, starts by proclaiming from the rooftops that this is a corrupt Government, a statement that immediately unleashes great rounds of applause.

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The popular ones had another reason to celebrate this Thursday, an unexpected gift from the Government’s allies, welcomed with gestures of surprise and annoyance in the ranks of the Executive groups and with another great ovation in those of the PP. The opposition managed to push through the disapproval of Marlaska, accused of being responsible for the death of two civil guards in Barbate (Cádiz) on the 16th, after his boat was hit by a drug boat. Podemos had already announced its abstention during the debate held on Wednesday. But it was not expected that Junts would sign up, which remained silent. The dissident trio of the investiture bloc was completed with the only parliamentarian from the Canary Coalition, Cristina Valido.

Other allies of the Government such as ERC, EH Bildu or PNV have been very critical of the management of the Minister of the Interior, especially with his immigration policy, but they did not join the right-wing offensive due to the tragic episode in Barbate and closed ranks with the Executive. An insufficient gesture: Marlaska’s dismissal request – without any binding nature – was successful by 171 votes to 165. It is the third parliamentary disapproval of the minister and the second in a week, after the one approved on the 21st by the Senate, where the PP It has an absolute majority, also due to the lack of resources of the Civil Guard to fight against drug trafficking in the Strait. The first disapproval of the minister was in February 2023, for the management of the tragedy at the Melilla border fence in June of the previous year, in which at least 23 people died.

Junts and Podemos have once again demonstrated that they constitute the weakest flank of the Government’s parliamentary base. With the independence group, everything is pending on how the negotiations on the amnesty law will end, after the first failure, on January 30. Podemos, which has already brought down a decree from the Ministry of Labor, has intensified the discourse critical of the Executive. Its leader, Ione Belarra, took advantage of a question to Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday to reproach him for having, since the Government was formed, “only talked about amnesty and corruption.”

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The two parties did remain faithful to the majority to approve the spending ceiling and the deficit path. But the Government’s triumph was of little value. In this matter, a step prior to the preparation of the Budgets, the last word lies with the Senate, where the right already overthrew it on the 7th. And its attitude has not changed since then. The Government, despite everything, says that it will be able to prepare the Budgets within the financial framework established in the stability pact agreed in April 2023 with Brussels, and that it contemplates a lower spending margin for autonomous communities and city councils.

The vice president and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, tried, once again, to convince the popular people that they are throwing stones at their roof, since they govern the majority of the communities and municipalities, the most affected by the blockade. “Leave the scorched earth policy now, do not harm the territories where you govern,” Montero rebuked.

The popular ones didn’t even flinch. Deputy José Vicente Marí began his reply by reproducing some words from Ábalos in which he asked his until now colleagues to look at his face. And as if transmuting herself into the spokesperson for the former minister, Marí addressed the vice president paraphrasing: “Look at my face, Mrs. Montero.” Then he expanded on Koldo casechained it with a total criticism of the state of public accounts and showed that the Government will not be able to count on them.

The whole morning passed like this, between proclamations from the popular people calling the entire Government corrupt, received with great joy in their seats. There was a hint of an incident when the popular spokesperson, Miguel Tellado, asked to speak because, in his absence, some socialists had alluded to the fact that the case summary includes a conversation in which Koldo García, former advisor to Ábalos, assures that is going to meet him. Tellado had already denied it outside the chamber and wanted to repeat it inside. The president, Francina Armengol, prevented him from doing so, alleging that there had been many people mentioned in the debates. Tellado refused to comply and did not remain silent until Armengol—one of the popular spokesperson’s favorite targets—called him to order. After the plenary session, the general secretary of the PP, Cuca Gamarra, still called the press. The reason? Denounce that Sánchez presides over a “corrupt Government.”

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