<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>This Wednesday, during his appearance before Congress to address the corruption cases in which the PSOE has been implicated, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez presented a national plan with fifteen measures that, he asserted, represent "the greatest push against corruption in decades."</strong></h4> "I come to assume my responsibility, to give explanations, but, above all, I come to propose measures to prevent it from happening again," Sánchez stated in his appearance, in which he acknowledged his mistake in having trusted José Luis Ábalos and Santos Cerdán and for not having been able to prevent a "corruption case that appears to involve the last two Secretaries of Organization of the PSOE." "It is clear that the Government still has work to do in the fight against corruption and sexism," but "the betrayal of a few cannot taint the rest," he warned. “Unfortunately, it can raise legitimate doubts that must be answered. That's why I'm here, to regain the trust of the parliamentary groups,” he stated. The Prime Minister also acknowledged that he considered resigning, but realized that “throwing in the towel” wasn't an option because “he was unaware of the corruption in which Ábalos and Cerdán might be involved,” because he aspires to regain the trust of his members, and because his project “goes far beyond” his person and “is not yet complete.” “I know these aren't easy days for my members or for the groups that support the government's actions,” but “I want to tell each and every one of them that I will rise to the occasion and meet their expectations for regeneration, and that I will fulfill the commitments I have to them,” he added. <h5><strong>The Plan</strong></h5> For all these reasons, Sánchez presented a 15-measure anti-corruption plan developed jointly with the OECD's Anti-Corruption Division and Sumar, the minority party in the coalition government. It is structured around "five pillars" and will involve the administration, businesses, political parties, and citizens. The first pillar, he explained, is to strengthen "random and annual asset controls on senior officials" to "ensure that no one obtains an undue benefit," including financing and donations to political parties and foundations with grants exceeding €50,000. The second pillar provides for the protection of those who report cases of corruption. To this end, a clause will be included in the new Criminal Procedure Law so that "anyone who goes directly to the Prosecutor's Office, the Police, or a Judge to report acts of corruption will have full guarantees of confidentiality, protection, and legal support." The third pillar of the plan, he continued, is to strengthen "the State's capacity to investigate, prosecute, and punish corruption," including the creation of specialized sections, the strengthening of the Prosecutor's Office, the activation of fast-track trials for public officials, and the toughening of penalties against the Administration. The fourth pillar provides for the creation of blacklists to ban companies convicted of inducing corruption, because "if we want to end corruption, we have to pursue the corrupt, but also the corruptors." "Behind every bribe, there is someone who receives, but there is also someone who pays," with "companies and businessmen who usually get away with it and tend to avoid public criticism and judicial punishment," he denounced. This plan includes measures for the recovery of "assets stolen through corruption." The objective of the fifth and final pillar, he explained, is to "generate a true culture of integrity that permeates our public administrations" through annual surveys, educational campaigns, and training programs for public officials, with the aim of cultivating a culture of integrity that takes root over the long term. <h5><strong>Feijóo</strong></h5> After Sánchez's intervention, the president of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, described these measures as "cosmetic" and urged the Prime Minister to adopt other decisions, such as strengthening the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, dismissing the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, who is accused of revealing secrets about Isabel Díaz Ayuso's partner, and reshuffling the Constitutional Court "to avoid any hint of partisanship." "How are you going to get us out of this nightmare if you got us into it?" he asked. "You knew everything and kept quiet," he continued. "You didn't elect the wrong people to do the right things; you elect the right people to do the wrong things and come to power," he denounced. In Feijóo's opinion, "there is no makeup that can hide" the fact that Pedro Sánchez "is a destroyed politician" and, therefore, "the best thing to do is to confess everything he knows, help return the loot, and call elections. It's not that it's the only decent way out, it's that there is no other." Finally, he addressed Sánchez's associates, warning them that "this is about Sánchez or decency" and asking, specifically Sumar, if they will continue to be the "crutch of rot." In his counter-reply, Pedro Sánchez called Feijóo a "puppet of the far right, which has taken over his party and his ideology." He recalled the corruption cases involving the governments of José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy, and asserted that both his government and that of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero have been the "cleanest" in Spanish democratic history. "For 25 years, you have been condoning and sponsoring cases by the party that is the most corrupt in the country," he added. <h5><strong>Díaz remembers her deceased father</strong></h5> For her part, the Second Vice President of the Government, Yolanda Díaz, addressing Feijóo, stated that she was speaking in Congress on behalf of her father, Suso Díaz, who died just this Tuesday, because "he would never want the right to govern our country." Díaz also affirmed that Pedro Sánchez is an "honest" person and asserted that Sumar "will not allow the light of the progressive coalition government to go out," but she asked the Prime Minister for a "change of course" because "governing is not about resistance but about transformation" and because "progressive citizens are distressed" by the current situation.
