Are investigative commissions an electoral weapon?

MadridCongress and the Senate are experiencing a surge in investigative committees this legislative session. These committees are specifically created to study a matter, aiming to analyze it thoroughly through appearances by officials and experts in order to draw lessons. However, while awaiting their conclusions in the coming months, they are also currently being used as a weapon of political confrontation. Both the People's Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) have summoned prominent leaders from their respective parties on the eve of election campaigns. Are they, then, an electoral weapon? There is a list of witnesses who have been summoned on key dates leading up to the polls.

Feijóo and Salazar before February 8th

It is no coincidence, then, that this Monday the socialists have cited Alberto Núñez Feijóo in the DANA committee of Congress. And that on Thursday the Popular Party summon Paco SalazarThe former Socialist official, accused of harassment, appeared before the Senate's Koldo case committee. These two appearances come in the final week before the February 8th elections in Aragon. In this instance, the People's Party (PP) intends to link him to the Socialist candidate, Pilar Alegría. Salazar had to resign as an advisor at the Moncloa Palace after being... accused of sexual harassment And, days later, Alegría met with him. It's a photo for which she has apologized and which the PP constantly criticizes her for. "Pilar Alegría wanted to hide this scandal, but the people of Aragon have the right to know the truth before they go to vote," argued PP sources. In Feijóo's case, the PSOE's idea is to bring up Carlos Mazón's management of the Valencian Community again.

Armengol before June 9th

But the use of electoral politics in investigative committees goes back further. The most blatant case, surely, was on June 7, 2014: two days before the European elections, Francina Armengol appeared before the Senate regarding the Koldo case. "It's quite obvious why I'm being summoned today, the day before the day of reflection," said the current Speaker of the Congress for the People's Party (PP). Two weeks earlier, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) had summoned her successor, Marga Prohens, to the lower house committee.

Isla before 12-M

Previously, with an eye on the 2024 Catalan elections, the same pattern had been repeated. Salvador Isla went to Congress and the Senate to discuss the Koldo case. Faced with demands from ERC and Junts, the PSOE He hurried to summon him. to distance it as much as possible from the 12M events. He was questioned by Miriam Nogueras and Gabriel Rufián, who never returned to the committee. During the election campaign, the PP made it so that Santos Cerdán and José Luis Ábalos They went to the upper house. The former Minister of Transport questioned the existence of the Koldo network. The PSOE, in turn, opted to summon two officials from the Almería Provincial Council implicated in the irregular purchase of medical supplies.

Two months ago, before the Extremadura elections on December 21, the roadmap was repeated. Santos Cerdán He went back to the Senate On December 17, four days before the elections, he linked his "persecution" to the amnesty and lamented that "everything changed" after the Photo with former president Carles PuigdemontAnd that week the PSOE opted for summon Salomé Pradas, the head of emergency services during the DANA tragedy; in the Congressional committee.

Zapatero before the 15M movement

Genoa has a new ace up its sleeve with its sights set on the March 15 elections in Castile and León. The Popular Party they added José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero – born in Valladolid – is on the list of those summoned to appear in the Koldo case, and there are hints that he will be called just before the elections. They are not hiding the direct impact this could have on his home region.

A long weekend before the Andalusian regional elections?

And there will be more. Now the PP has decided to promote a commission of inquiry in the Senate Regarding the Adamuz accident and the rail chaos, on Friday he closed the CIS commission, demanded the dismissal of José Félix Tezanos, and saw an opening to avoid losing ammunition. The commission will begin its work in the coming weeks and will be fully operational as the Andalusian elections approach. María Jesús Montero as the Socialist candidateWill the Popular Party summon Óscar Puente just days before the elections?