Madrid/Seville (EFE).- The general coordinator of the PP, Elías Bendodo, affirmed this Tuesday that “socialism returns to its old ways” of corruption with the Mediator case, which investigates a possible fraud in the management of subsidies linked to food products and in which Juan Bernardo Fuentes Curbelo, a PSOE deputy already expelled from the party, has been arrested.
In an institutional act in the Andalusian parliament, Bendodo has asked the leader of the PSOE and President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, “transparency” and to give “all the explanations” to clarify this alleged corrupt plot, in which according to the investigators they were hired prostitute services to close business.
The PP wants to know “what degree of involvement” has the PSOE in this case, “how many deputies” have participated in it and “since when” the party and President Sánchez himself know it.
“We ask for clarity and that all explanations be given. Socialism returns to its old ways, it has already happened in Andalusia and now with its epicenter in the Canary Islands, but with repercussions at the national level ”, Bendodo pointed out in statements to the press.
The PSOE asks the PP to take the example of corruption cases
In the same act, the Minister of Finance and Public Function and Deputy Secretary General of the PSOE, María Jesús Montero, defended the work carried out by her party since the Mediator case was uncovered and has asked the PP to “take an example”.
Montero has shown his “zero tolerance for corruption” and has said that, in this matter, “the important thing is that within a few hours of learning about these issues in the press, the delivery of the minutes was immediately demanded and the expulsion was carried out. of the party” of the socialist deputy Juan Bernardo Fuentes Curbelo.
“I wish that other political groups with similar and much larger cases would have demanded the same degree of exemplary character”, said Montero, who referred to the mayoress of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, and her “shady family businesses”, which “ He has not rendered accounts to the Senate.”
For his part, the PSOE spokesman in Congress, Patxi López, stated on Tuesday that the party is unaware that any other Socialist deputy may be implicated in corruption issues due to the Mediator Case.
The PSOE spokesman has acknowledged that “it has been talked about, looked at, or if you want to call it investigated” within the party but that “we are not aware of any other attitude with dishonest behavior and as soon as we know about it we will act.”
The supports of the Government, divided
Unidas Podemos sees the Mediator case as “very serious” but “it will not play along with the PP of Gürtel, of Kitchen…”, which has requested the appearances of several ministers in Congress and that other investiture partners will support.
The spokesman for Unidas Podemos, Pablo Echenique, has thus ruled out supporting the initiatives presented by the popular group for his partner to give explanations in the Chamber, although he has forcefully condemned these events in a press conference in Congress, stating that “In addition to illegal it seems that there are immoral elements.”
Other investiture partners, such as ERC and Compromís, have pledged their support for any initiative, including the possibility of a parliamentary commission of inquiry, whether it comes from the PP or the PSOE.
Gabriel Rufián, ERC spokesman, has assured that they will support the proposals made in this regard, recalling that historical parties that have governed for years, such as the PP, PSOE or CiU, have cases of corruption to their credit, which highlights that “it is quite insane to govern for many years.”
Joan Baldoví, from Compromís, is also willing to support all measures aimed at getting to the bottom of the matter, as they have done in the Valencian Community, and whoever they come from.
The Basque nationalists do not position themselves in such a decisive way in favor of a commission of inquiry, doubting its effectiveness and emphasizing that if instead of making “noise” what is intended is to get to the end of what has happened, it is necessary to put the focus on the judicial investigation, has indicated the spokesman for the PNV, Aitor Esteban.
The PdCat spokesman, Ferran Bel, has a different opinion, pointing out that it is necessary to act quickly and that it must be the PSOE who purges the responsibilities derived from this case. Although he does not rule out supporting an investigation in the Chamber, he has defended that the commissions that have already been requested must first be formalized.
Vox will appear in the case
Vox will appear as a popular accusation in the legal case of the Mediator case of extortion of businessmen with the alleged involvement of socialist deputies that it considers may be “one more nail in the coffin” of the Government of Pedro Sánchez and another justification for the motion of censure.
“Money laundering, counterfeiting, belonging to a criminal organization and influence peddling. We could be talking about the Sicilian mafia”, the Vox spokesman in Congress, Iván Espinosa, denounced at a press conference, for whom the Mediator case has revealed a supposed “quite corrupt organization”.
A whole “horror”, he has recounted, of extortion, tolls of five thousand euros in exchange for public contracts and meetings in Congress, as well as “parties with cocaine and prostitutes.”
“This is not new in the PSOE, it is repetitive,” warned Espinosa, for whom “the most feminist party in history presumably has fifteen deputies here who went to those parties with prostitutes after voting here the most feminists of history”, has criticized.
