The PSIB invites the PP to present a motion of no confidence if it wants to bring forward the Spanish elections

PalmaThe statement by former Spanish president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero at the Audiencia Nacional has shaken the control session at the Congress of Deputies and the debate on an early election is once again hovering over Moncloa. After the Congress's Bureau rejected two texts from Junts and the PP requesting elections and the PP brought a similar non-legislative initiative to Parliament, the deputy spokesperson for the PSIB, Marc Pons, invited the PP to "present a motion of censure" if it is so clear that it is necessary to call elections. "These are the mechanisms that democracy has," he continued. Thus, he admitted that, if the situation were the reverse and the case affected the PP, this is what the socialist party would do, as, in fact, it already did in 2018 after the sentence in the Gürtel case, which affected the PP.

However, the numbers do not add up for the PP to be able to present a motion of no confidence. The problem for Alberto Núñez Feijóo's party is that it would need the support of Vox and Junts or another party to push it forward. Furthermore, the Spanish Constitution requires a motion of no confidence to be constructive, meaning that whoever presents it must do so with an alternative candidate to the president, which complicates the PP's options for gaining the support of such opposing parties to unite against Sánchez.

The spokesperson for the PP parliamentary group, Sebastià Sagreras, stressed that Zapatero's is just one of several cases of alleged corruption within the PSOE that have emerged in recent months, from the Ábalos case to the indictments of the president's wife and brother. "A bit of dignity," he said, and called for Sánchez's resignation.

For their part, Vox spokesperson Manuela Cañadas said she would not object to joining forces with the pro-independence party in an eventual motion of no confidence. "The urgent thing is to get Pedro Sánchez out of La Moncloa," she asserted. While refusing to comment on Vox's strategy in Madrid, Cañadas recalled that "one of the party's red lines" is "not to be alongside terrorists and coup plotters," referring to Catalan and Basque separatists. However, she also highlighted that it is "urgent" to remove the current Spanish government and act against "the state's sewers." "Whatever the party decides, it will be good for the citizens," she noted.

Vox's national leaders have already made it clear that they would support a motion of no confidence against Sánchez if it leads to elections. Santiago Abascal's party has refused to enter into any negotiations with Junts, but has not closed the door to the possibility of agreeing with them on a specific vote.

"The investiture majority is not in force today"

The spokesperson for MÉS per Mallorca, Lluís Apesteguia, has considered that, beyond the legal proceedings the case may entail, the socialist party "is not assuming its share of responsibility as an organization". "The investiture majority is not valid today," he said, and considered that the Spanish government must provide an alternative beyond preventing the right and the far-right from coming to power.