Ábalos resigns his seat as a member of parliament in Congress

MadridJosé Luis Ábalos had resisted throughout the investigation and even after the Supreme Court had already decided to send him to trial for one branch of the alleged corruption scheme—the mask contracts during the pandemic. Finally, the former Minister of Transport has resigned his seat in Congress. He announced this on Wednesday through an account that publishes messages on his behalf. Ábalos justified his decision by stating that just over a week ago, the Supreme Court rejected his appeal against the decision to send him to pretrial detention. Faced with the high court's decision to keep him incarcerated, and with no options for release in the short term, Ábalos concluded that he "cannot hold the seat." The former deputy also argued that "all his activity" is now focused on "exercising his right to defense and proving his innocence."

Thus, Ábalos has submitted a written statement to the lower house of parliament announcing his decision to resign his seat as a deputy for Valencia – after having served for seven terms. "I can proudly say that it has been an exciting responsibility," the now former parliamentarian, who is facing charges of organized crime, embezzlement, bribery, and influence peddling – stated in an interview with X. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is seeking a 24-year prison sentence for him. Although the former number three of the Socialist Party was no longer a PSOE deputy – having joined the mixed group when the scandal broke – the move will mean that the Socialist parliamentary group will regain the seat it had temporarily lost, bringing its total back to 121. In practical terms for Ábalos, the decision will not significantly alter his current situation. Since his indictment in the mask case became final, he has not received his salary nor has he been able to exercise his right to vote – his imprisonment had suspended him as a deputy. For the PSOE, on the other hand, regaining a deputy will mean that it will have an easier time surviving close votes that do not require an absolute majority but a simple majority.

Ábalos is the first member of parliament to be imprisoned while still in office, but until now he had always defended keeping his seat, arguing that the presumption of innocence is a pillar of the rule of law and that it was necessary to "uphold the integrity of the right to representation." He reiterated this argument in his message to X despite this change of heart, which has already prompted an extraordinary meeting of the Congress's governing board. "The resignation is effective as of today," sources from the Speaker's office of the lower house confirmed, explaining that the Central Electoral Board (JEC) has already been informed so that it can issue the credentials to the next person on the Socialist Party's electoral list. While awaiting official communication from the JEC, attention has turned to Ana María González, mayor of Llaurí and seventh on the Socialist Party's list for Valencia in the June 23rd elections. In just a few hours, she has already made headlines for being sentenced in 2021 to a €960 fine and an eight-month driving ban for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Why now?

One of the questions raised by Ábalos's decision is why he has done it now. The resignation will not have a major impact on his legal situation because, although this decision means he loses his parliamentary immunity, he will still be tried in the Supreme Court for the mask case since the oral proceedings have already begun—the Supreme Court's doctrine establishes that this procedural stage is the limit for waiving the effects of parliamentary immunity. However, it will impact the other branch of the investigation still underway, the one concerning public works contracts, in which the former Socialist leader Santos Cerdán is also under investigation. This case will be transferred to the National Court, with the uncertainty as to whether a new case will be opened or if it will be integrated into the existing investigations into the corruption scheme. The People's Party (PP) has offered a hypothetical answer to this question, arguing that Ábalos has done it to return a favor to Pedro Sánchez. Sources within the PP believe that the Spanish president is seeking to "mitigate his precarious parliamentary position."