In Madrid, Spain, the ruling Socialist Party has given former Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos 24 hours to step down as a lawmaker following the arrest of his assistant on suspicion of taking payments to facilitate contracts for masks during the COVID pandemic. While Abalos has not been accused of any crime, the PSOE believes he bears “political responsibility,” according to party spokesperson Esther Pena at a press conference in Madrid.
Abalos, who served as transport minister from 2018 to 2021, stated in an interview with La Sexta television over the weekend that he denies any wrongdoing and has no intention of resigning. He mentioned that he would have resigned if the suspected scandal had emerged while he was minister.
A report by Publico newspaper on Monday noted that Abalos has resigned as chair of the interior affairs committee in parliament but is still considering whether to step down as a lawmaker.
This alleged scandal comes at a challenging time for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is facing difficulties in his new term with a government reliant on the support of Catalan nationalists. There has been criticism of his agreement to grant a controversial amnesty in exchange for their votes in parliament.
Anti-corruption prosecutors allege that Abalos’ personal assistant, Koldo Garcia, accepted payments to facilitate transactions between the government and Soluciones de Gestion y Apoyo a las Empresas SL, a company established in 2017 to provide electricity generators, as indicated in court documents.
Prosecutors claim that Garcia received payments after helping the company secure contracts to supply masks to Spanish ports and the state railway company ADIF while Abalos was transport minister.
Garcia’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Soluciones de Gestion y Apoyo a las Empresas SL declined to offer a comment when contacted by telephone and did not respond to an email inquiry.
If Abalos chooses to resign, he would be automatically replaced by another Socialist lawmaker under Spain’s parliamentary system, having no impact on the party’s seat count. However, if he refuses to step down but is expelled from the party, he could continue to serve as an independent lawmaker.
Pena emphasized that there is no tolerance for corruption within the party. The government is initiating a parliamentary committee to investigate all contracts granted during the pandemic.
($1 = 0.9215 euros)
(Reporting by Charlie Devereux and Emma Pinedo; Editing by Aislinn Laing and Alison Williams)
