Feijóo offers Junts and the PNV a motion of no confidence in exchange for "immediate elections"

Madrid / BarcelonaThe motion of no confidence weighs heavily on the political debate since the indictment of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, almost two weeks ago. Although the PP resists presenting it, Alberto Núñez Feijóo has taken a further step in the strategy of pressuring Pedro Sánchez's investiture allies and this Monday he offered himself, especially to Junts and the PNB, to put an end to the legislature. In an interview on Telecinco, and after the Spanish president vowed this weekend to resist in Moncloa, the PP leader has called for efforts to be united for an instrumental motion of no confidence. The objective would be to bring down the PSOE government, besieged by cases of alleged corruption, and call for immediate elections. "Decency and elections," he summarized.

will conspire this weekend to resist at Moncloaresisted in Moncloa

However, although Junts and the PNB have asked Sánchez to end the legislature, they have also refused so far to join a majority with the PP and Vox. Regarding these reservations of the plurinational majority about going hand in hand with the far-right in an operation of the magnitude of a motion of no confidence, the popular leader has underlined that in an instrumental government that would be limited to "cleaning up institutions immediately" and "calling elections" the entry of Vox would not be necessary. The same sources from the PP leadership avoid specifying how long this hypothetical transitional executive would be maintained.

The PSOE defends itself: "We do not accept even half a lesson from the PP"

The PSOE defends itself: "We do not accept even half a lesson from the PP"

What does the PSOE say? From Ferraz, the spokesperson, Montse Mínguez, defended the honorability of her party, especially in comparison to the PP: "This is not Gürtel nor the Kitchen case." It was Mínguez's first press conference after the Civil Guard visited the socialists' headquarters last week. The PSOE spokesperson, after the federal executive meeting, wanted to convey "calm" and "confidence in justice." She also defended her party's actions in the Ábalos and Cerdán cases. "We are the first to want to clarify the facts. We do not accept even half a lesson from the PP," she stated.

However, in line with what Sánchez already did this Sunday, she pointed to the "bad practices" of the opposition and certain media outlets. "There is a lynching of our political project," she said, before stating that there is a double standard from the police and a desire to generate an "unbreathable atmosphere" for the PSOE to surrender. In the same vein, the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, hinted at an operation to try to end the governments of Catalonia and Spain. "Perhaps it is the success of the two governments that explains so many coincidences in certain [judicial] agendas," he said in his speech at the Cercle d'Economia, from where he showed himself determined to resist.

Cerdán breaks the silence

In parallel, in the courts, one of the protagonists of the PSOE's judicial cases has broken his silence. Santos Cerdán, former right-hand man of Pedro Sánchez, has spoken. "There were no blackmail attempts or anything of the sort," he said in statements to the media after being indicted in the Leire Díez case, in which Judge Santiago Pedraz maintains there are indications that they tried to "destabilize" judicial cases affecting the Spanish president's circle. Cerdán made these statements after leaving the Tafalla court, where he went every fifteen days to sign and comply with the precautionary measures of the Supreme Court, which released him in November after half a year in preventive detention for the Koldo case. A case that is now all in the National Court.

Sánchez also plans to give explanations about this case and those that have emerged in recent days, such as the one affecting Zapatero. He will do so at his own request after the European Council on June 19, but some partners had also asked him to, such as ERC. In fact, the Republicans are demanding that Sánchez appear "immediately." The general secretary of ERC, Elisenda Alamany, has also asked President Illa to go to Parliament to explain the payments for the PSC's electoral campaign in the last Catalan elections, which the judge also includes in the summary.