PP brings censure motion against Marlaska to Congress following death of two officers in Huelva
The People's Party parliamentary group will defend a motion next week to censure the Interior Minister over the fatal accident of 8 May. This would be the third censure of Marlaska in Parliament.
PP demands fresh censure of Marlaska over death of two Civil Guard officers in Huelva
According to ABC, the People's Party parliamentary group will present a motion of censure against Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska to the Congress Plenary next week, arising from an interpellation. The reason: the death in the line of duty of two Civil Guard officers in Huelva on 8 May, when their patrol vehicles collided following an evasive manoeuvre by drug traffickers who managed to escape.
This is not the first time Parliament has censured Marlaska for the death of Civil Guard officers. The Cortes Generales—both Congress and Senate—have already censured the Interior Minister following the fatal running down of two Civil Guard officers by a drug smuggling vessel in Barbate (Cádiz). Should this new initiative succeed, it would be the third censure that Marlaska would suffer, to which would also be added the one relating to the assault on the Melilla fence, in which more than twenty people died.
The motion, which is non-binding although carrying the weight of a parliamentary mandate, will be debated a week after the interpellation that the PP's spokesperson in Congress, Ester Muñoz, directed at the minister on Wednesday. "History is repeating itself. For years now, associations, unions and the People's Party have been warning of the lack of resources and personnel. How many Civil Guard officers must die?", Muñoz asked Marlaska in the parliamentary session. The minister, in his response, referred to the Civil Guard as a "high-risk profession", despite the fact that the executive refuses to recognise this condition legally to its members, something that the officers themselves have been demanding for years.
Early retirement and Criminal Code reform among demands
Beyond the censure itself, the PP's motion—which ABC had access to—includes several specific demands. The conservatives are calling for Congress to promote the legislative changes necessary to officially recognise the high-risk profession status of members of the National Police and Civil Guard. This recognition would allow these groups access to a reducing coefficient for retirement age and, in the most favourable cases, to retire from the age of 59.
The Senate already approved a bill to this effect in 2024, but the initiative remains blocked in the Congress Bureau. The PSOE and Sumar, with a majority in that body, have systematically extended the deadline for groups to file amendments—this week they approved the seventieth extension—leaving the proposal in legislative limbo. The PP uses its motion to demand the unblocking of this initiative, whilst also calling for increased staffing levels in both forces and a Criminal Code reform that toughens penalties for assault, resistance and disobedience to authority.
"A structural threat", according to the PP
In the statement of reasons for the motion, the PP draws a direct parallel between the Huelva tragedy and that of Barbate, and argues that it is not possible to speak of "isolated incidents" but rather of "a structural threat" to which the Government provides no response. Professional associations, unions and the Special Anti-Drug Prosecution Office have for years been denouncing the insufficiency of material and human resources to tackle drug trafficking which, according to these same actors, is increasingly sophisticated and better equipped.
The PP emphasises that the executive chooses to stall or reject legislative initiatives aimed at improving the protection of officers. The motion has the predictable support of Vox and Union of the Navarre People, parties aligned with the conservatives on this matter, but its final outcome will depend on the parliamentary groups that support President Pedro Sánchez.
Source: ABC