Zapatero indictment shakes Galician Parliament amid PP criticism and PSdeG defence
The National Court is investigating former president Zapatero on four counts in the Plus Ultra case. The Galician PP demands explanations from the PSOE, which calls for respect for the presumption of innocence.
Zapatero indicted: political uproar at O Hórreo
The indictment of former Government president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has arrived in full force at the Galician Parliament. According to ABC, the National Court is investigating him on four alleged counts—including abuse of influence, criminal organisation and document falsification—in the context of the Plus Ultra case, the rescue of the Venezuelan airline. The charges carry potential sentences of up to eight years in prison.
National Court judge José Luis Calama positions Zapatero as the alleged leader of a "stable and hierarchical structure for abuse of influence" whose purpose would be "the obtaining of economic benefits through intermediation and the exercise of influence before public authorities on behalf of third parties, principally Plus Ultra".
Rueda demands "very swift explanations" from the PSOE
The president of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda, who was in Oviedo alongside the regional presidents of Asturias and Castilla y León, described the facts as "very concerning" and demanded an immediate response from the PSOE. "We have only just learned of this and I suppose that as more circumstances come to light we will have a clearer picture, but based on what is known it is very concerning," Rueda stated.
The Galician president stressed that the indictment itself causes grave damage to the image of institutions. "We are talking about a former Government president who is part of the inner circle of the current president, Pedro Sánchez," he added, calling for the convening of general elections in light of the succession of scandals linked to the environment of La Moncloa. However, the central Government has ruled out that possibility and insisted that the parliamentary term will not conclude until 2027.
The PSdeG calls for respect for the presumption of innocence and counter-attacks with Feijóo
The call to close ranks from Madrid had its counterpart in the Galician regional parliament. PSdeG deputy Aitor Bouza took the floor—standing in for secretary general José Ramón Gómez Besteiro, who chose not to appear—to call for "respect" for the presumption of innocence of the former president.
"All our respect to President Zapatero, to the presumption of innocence and all respect to the Justice system," Bouza stated. He then hinted that "this type of practice comes from where it comes and goes to where it goes", sliding in the idea of possible judicial persecution—what socialist circles commonly term lawfare. The deputy also pointed to former president José María Aznar as a possible instigator, in reference to an old phrase in which he invited whoever could act to do so.
The Galician socialists also took the opportunity to bring up again the photograph of the PP president, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, alongside drug trafficker Marcial Dorado, taken in 1995, as a response to criticism from the conservatives.
The Galician PP attacks the PSOE's "moral reference point"
At the plenary session held at O Hórreo, the spokesperson for the Galician PP, Alberto Pazos Couñago, described Zapatero as a "moral reference point" for the PSOE and highlighted that the former president had gone in a matter of days from campaigning in Andalusia to being investigated on four counts "each more serious than the last". "They preach honesty and they do not leave the courts," Pazos stated.
During the same session, agents from the Economic and Financial Crime Unit (UDEF) of the National Police were searching Zapatero's office on Ferraz Street in Madrid, as well as the company of the former president's daughters and other business entities involved in the alleged scheme.
For her part, Galician socialist deputy Patricia Iglesias responded that she would not "enter their mud" and urged the popular spokesperson to "talk about what matters to Galicians". Pazos replied by reminding that the socialists had also "come out in force" to defend the honourability of other indicted figures such as José Luis Ábalos, Santos Cerdán, Begoña Gómez or Álvaro García Ortiz: "Every time you defend someone's honourability they end up in prison".
The vice-spokesperson for the popular group, Paula Prado, also denounced the "lack of self-criticism" among socialists and addressed the BNG harshly: "Faced with the most corrupt Government in Spanish history, you are like two calahugese at a religious procession, one going and one with head bowed".
The BNG opts for silence
The only reaction from the BNG to the indictment of the former president was silence. The Galician nationalists preferred to focus their intervention on requesting the regional Parliament to condemn the detentions carried out by Israel that week, which affect six Galicians travelling aboard the so-called 'Global Sumud Flotilla'.
Source: ABC