PP removes deputy communication secretary from his post due to abuse complaint

BarcelonaA new complaint for alleged battering in the PP. Before starting the electoral campaign the popular party removed general secretary Daniel Serrano from all his positions over an alleged sexual assault on a party colleague. Now it is the current deputy secretary of communication, Alberto Fernández Saltiveri, who has been denounced for alleged mistreatment by the president of the party's youth wing, Irene Pardo, who is also his ex-partner. According to ARA, the complaint was filed this Monday in court for a crime of battering in the context of gender violence. After the information was made public in this newspaper, the PP made a move: the leadership sent a communiqué this morning announcing the dismissal of the deputy secretary of communication for mistreatment.

The written complaint presented by Pardo, over 30 pages long, is accompanied by a medical report that reports injuries, such as a crack to the nose and bruises all over the body, which she suffered as a result of the alleged assaults by Saltiveri. In addition, she also complains of continued psychological mistreatment. Consulted by ARA, Saltiveri assures not to have any knowledge of the proceeding and, he has added, in any case they are "false".

According to sources close to the youth leader, Pardo would be considering leaving the PP and the presidency of its youth wing due to the "discomfort" felt during the last months, since, they say, the party knew the facts and, in spite of everything, did not remove Saltiveri of his management posts. Management sources, however, explain that they became aware of the complaint on Monday and that it was decided to transfer the case to the PP's state committee of rights and guarantees, which has opened a file on Saltiveri.

It is given the circumstance that this Saturday -two days before the accusation was presented- the party already dismissed Saltiveri, together with Josep Llobet, from their position as advisers on the Barcelona Provincial Council. Saltiveri and Llobet will be replaced by the former mayor of Castelldefels Manuel Reyes and the former deputy in Parliament Santi Rodriguez. Even so, party sourcessay this is not related to the accusations. According to several sources, their dismissal is actually due to the poor results in the February elections and Pablo Casado attempt to restructure the management in Catalonia. A prominent leader of the party remarks that the management had been wanting to get rid of Salviteri for some time due to "his incompetence" and that the defeat in the Catalan elections ended up condemning him.

Restructuring in depth of the party

The complaint is another blow against PP leader in Catalonia Alejandro Fernandez, who had already lost his secretary general after the Serrano case and that in the coming weeks will have to face a thorough reshuffle of its leadership. A process that, several sources explain, will be supervised by the state direction of the party, annoyed by the bad results obtained in Catalonia in the elections to the Parliament and because it believes that a "deep change" of the teams that currently govern the party in Catalonia is necessary. Sources in the Catalan management point out, nevertheless, that the changes will not be able to be carried out until there is a new Government and the possibility of new elections vanishes completely.

The first executive committee held by the PP after the elections saw a lot of criticisms against Alejandro Fernández's management. Several members of the executive reproached the current president of the party in Catalonia the way in which the list was configured, but also his management of the territory, since some consider that he has left it abandoned. To try to appease the critics and to mark a new course, in the next few days a renovation of the direction from top to bottom is foreseen, without replacing its president - for the time being.