PSOE Case: Ábalos seeks annulment, while Koldo buys time

The stain of possible corruption is spreading, and its consequences are unpredictable.

It's time to stop talking about the Koldo case and start calling it what it deserves: the PSOE case. At this point, no one doubts that this isn't a "corrupt triangle" formed by José Luis Ábalos, Koldo García, and Santos Cerdán. It's much more. The Supreme Court judge investigating the case didn't hesitate to speak of a "criminal organization at the top of the PSOE." And not only because the leaders were the party's two successive Secretaries of Organization (both of whom Pedro Sánchez trusted most and appointed by him ), but because as the investigation progresses, new evidence is emerging that affects a still-undetermined number of members, senior government officials, ministers, and presidents of autonomous communities.

They're deadlocked at Ferraz and at La Moncloa . They don't know how to deal with a scandal that's touching the lifeline of a paralyzed government. No matter how much they try to find external enemies or launch news stories to obscure the legal proceedings, everyone is aware they're at a dead end. They've decided to wait until the judicial investigation runs out of ammunition to do damage control and propose a way out, which will involve early elections before the end of the year. There's no other solution.

Last weekend, panic spread among Socialist leaders: the news that Ábalos had met with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office seeking a deal that would keep him and his family out of jail (he could face up to 16 years in prison). On Sunday, after learning that the former PSOE Organization Secretary had met with his former assistant in his lawyer's office, rumors intensified that the two were going to call it quits.

But yesterday it was proven to be a false alarm. It is unknown whether it was because Ábalos had not obtained any guarantees from the prosecutor or because Koldo presented him with devastating evidence against him. The fact is that the former Minister of Transport, when the commissions for mask purchases and public works contracts were allegedly increasing, changed his strategy and threw himself into an attempt to annul the proceedings against him. He declared that he did not recognize himself in the recordings presented against him and denied having participated in a corrupt scheme. The judge kept him in a courtroom awaiting Koldo García's turn.

The jack-of-all-trades and procurer of all kinds of benefits in exchange for bribes chose to exercise his right not to testify. He had tried to postpone his court date while waiting for Cerdán's decision next week, but the judge warned him that if he didn't go to the Supreme Court, he would face the consequences.

After a few hours of suspense, during which there was speculation about remanding the suspect in custody due to flight risk (as requested by the private prosecutors), the judge issued an order upholding the previous precautionary measures. The two defendants breathed a sigh of relief, and at Ferraz, they understood they had a respite until Santos Cerdán's statement.

But the Supreme Court's investigation could lead to new charges when the Civil Guard's UCO draws conclusions from the material obtained last week at Ferraz, the Ministry of Transport, and Adif.

The older ones of us remembered the raids on the Socialist Party headquarters during the Filesa, Malesa, and Time Export scandals. Irregular financing is a word that terrifies the PSOE leaders, who are not entirely convinced no matter how much they continue to insult those under investigation and claim that there is nothing more than a "corrupt triangle." They also know that their allies in the legislature have already warned them of the red line that would result if bribery money had reached the party.

The constitutional declaration of the Amnesty Law (drafted by Santos Cerdán and Carles Puigdemont's advisors), which will likely be issued between Thursday and Friday, will be of no use. The Constitutional Court's ruling does not guarantee a pardon for the fugitive pro-independence leader, because the Supreme Court is unwilling to apply it to the crime of embezzlement. Thus, the pressure from Junts to squeeze the government for as long as possible will continue.

The latest issue that has sown panic among Pedro Sánchez 's supporters is the possibility that some of the commissions charged for the awarding of public works contracts were linked to Next Generation EU funds. That would spell the end of the government. Without a doubt. The two presidents of Adif in recent years, Isabel Pardo de Vera and Ángel Contreras, are under scrutiny by the courts because a large portion of the work carried out during that period was funded by European funds. If the search of the public company's headquarters has found evidence of corruption in any of the contracts, we'll be talking serious matters.

Some of the works under investigation could also have been financed with European funds : the A-68 motorway, section Arrubal-Navarrete (151 million euros); the renovation of the Centenario Bridge in Seville (128); the second carriageway of the Salas-La Espina section in Asturias (10); the A-32 between Úbeda and Torreperogil (5.8); duplication of the N-4 road in Dos Hermanas , Seville (4.1); maintenance of the TE-02 sector, Levante (6.98); the A-2 from Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Villamayor del Río (95.5)... These are some of the works that are under inspection by the Ministry of Transport itself. The stain of possible corruption is spreading and its consequences are unpredictable.