That the Koldo case would not be limited to the Ábalos case was common knowledge. The Socialists (PSOE) knew it from the start and so did the People's Party (PP), which is rubbing hands gleefully over an episode that was unforeseen before the Galician elections and, even more so, with the virulence of news coverage it has obtained. Alberto Núñez Feijóo's achievement of an absolute majority in Galicia has been the prelude to Pedro Sánchez finding himself with a sinkhole opening beneath his feet, the exact depth of which is unknown, but it seems significant. The president thus finds himself with a series of news stories directly related to a situation as worrying as the use of the funds invested in the purchase of masks during the pandemic and, at the same time, he faces the balancing act of a legislature in the Congress of Deputies that he hasn't managed to stabilize. Partly because he hasn't fully grasped something as obvious as that he has no plan B.
For the first time, Sánchez's parliamentary allies hold more cards than he does. It could be said that they have both plan A and plan B, as much as they prefer plan A, which is an agreement with the PSOE that includes a full amnesty for all independence process cases and, in parallel, support for a Spanish government budget with spending figures that are serious and will end up making a real difference in Catalan society. The clumsiness with which the Spanish government has managed the amnesty law since the summer, as if they had enough votes in the Congress of Deputies and could impose their conditions, means that six months later this issue is not already water under the bridge, but rather its nuances are still being debated. I repeat: does the PSOE have a plan B? Perhaps, the choice of going to elections in July or in September?
I am informed that some Socialist leaders with most experience and knowledge of the negotiations do not stop sending messages to Sánchez of this type: Pedro, finalize it; it doesn't matter how, but finalize it. "The legislature has to be stabilized because otherwise we are dead" is the mantra heard in the PSOE. The most curious thing is that every time it seems that they are close to agreement, and lately that has happened more than once, as if by magic, new obstacles spring up. Perhaps the foul smell of the face mask affair has overshadowed the amnesty issue in terms of news, but the arithmetical inferiority in Congress to legislate and push forward proposals remains.
"The legislature has to be stabilized because otherwise we are dead" is the mantra heard in the PSOE
And while this is happening, the speaker of the Congress of Deputies, Socialist politician Francisca Armengol, seems to be the chess piece who must be sacrificed. For the former Balearic Islands president, the outlook seems very murky if it is true that she made the European Union pay for the masks in the Koldo case when she already knew they were defective, since the material did not meet the necessary requirements for their use. First she agreed to the mask purchase for 3.7 million euros from the Balearic budget and received the material, and later, upon finding out that they had been defrauded, she modified the tenders to be able to pass off the expenditure to the European Regional Development Fund.
The current government of the Balearics, which changed hands last May and went to the PP, has mounted a private prosecution in the masks case pursued by the National Audience. The European prosecutor's office will also investigate the case as it concerns a possible misappropriation of EU funds. I don't know how Armengol's case will end and if she has strong weapons with which to defend herself. We will see. But nor is this the final target to be taken out. In the end, it will always be Pedro Sánchez's head that is sought. All the rest are extras in the story.