The People's Party (PP) is trying to create a firewall in the Montoro case: "He is the one who must provide explanations."

MadridThe PP doesn't want the Montoro case to spill over into the party's current leadership, led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and they're trying to create a firewall to avoid being under its shadow, and consequently, the shadow of corruption, especially now that their slogan was "mafia or democracy" against Pedro Sán's administration. From the outset, the PP party is lamenting the man who was one of the most important ministers during Mariano Rajoy's era: "It's worrying," stated Esther Muñoz, the PP spokesperson in the Congress of Deputies, in a press conference on Monday morning. But they're also dismissing the case as something of the past, so the one who should speak out is not the current leadership, but the courts, and above all, Cristóbal Montoro himself: "The one who should provide explanations for all this is Montoro," Muñoz stated.

Since the secrecy of the summary of the case was lifted, the information about the involvement of the former Minister of Finance of the PP, Cristóbal Montoro, for allegedly having trafficked with laws from the ministry and having enriched themselves illicitly through front men They haven't stopped. "In my party [the PP] there may have been colleagues who have used it to enrich themselves, and that affects those of us who are honest," the Popular Party spokesperson defended.

On the other hand, within the Socialist ranks, a common denominator has been found between the current PP and the PP from the time when Montoro was Minister of Finance: the then Prime Minister of Spain, Mariano Rajoy. The figure of the person who recruited Montoro to form part of the government between 2011 and 2018 has served the PSOE to lump Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Cristóbal Montoro together: "Feijóo is part of all this, he's from the same political core of Mariano Rajoy's government and he's defended it a thousand times," the minister stated in an interview on RNE. The spokesperson for the PSOE's federal executive, Montse Mínguez, went further, denouncing Feijóo's recruitment of Alberto Nadal. The PP's new deputy economic secretary was Secretary of State for Finance when Montoro was a minister. "It was the PP leader himself who brought this past to the present," Mínguez denounced at a press conference on Monday.

PP sources remain confident at Christmas and close ranks. The same sources note that he is neither charged nor summoned as a witness in the Montoro case, and maintain that they are not considering removing him. Regarding the meeting between Rajoy and Feijóo this weekend, which was reported by some media outlets, Muñoz stated that he was "unaware" of any contact between the former Spanish president and the current leadership of the PP.

"What does Feijóo have to do with Montoro?" asked the former president of the Community of Madrid and former PP minister, Esperanza Aguirre, in an interview on Antena 3 this Monday, thus entering the race by the Popular Party to disassociate the names of Alberto Núñez Feijó. Aguirre also noted that Montoro "could give some explanation" and once again lamented the release of his tax information, which was always "perfect."

A PP "subscribed" to corruption

Likewise, within the Socialist ranks, they have no hesitation in leaving out the investigation opened by the Tarragona court. "[The Montoro case] is the PP in its purest form," asserted the Minister of Justice, the Presidency, and Parliamentary Relations, Félix Bolaños, this Monday, who called for justice to be allowed to work: "It should be the one to determine the facts, the seriousness, and the possible crimes that have been committed."

In this regard, Óscar López recalled that the case affecting the former Minister of Finance is added to the Kitchen and Gürtel plots, which also target the PP. In fact, the trial for the second era of the Gürtel case (2006-2009) is scheduled to begin after the summer. "The PP is subscribed to one." modus operandi of corruption," said the socialist minister, who maintained that the reaction of the Popular Party has been different from that of the PSOE with the Cerdán case, in which he believes that they have acted with "speed and force" to eliminate those allegedly involved in corrupt schemes.

[PSOE spokesperson] would come out and say that there is an open investigation against [Cristóbol] Montoro for being right-wing. That the judges are attacking the PP or that there are lawfare. Since the PP is involved, the left is fine with it, and so am I. "The gap between the PSOE and the PP is abysmal" when it comes to responding to corruption

Just the week in which the investigation against the former number 3 of the PSOE and part of the leadership of José Luis Ábalos's Ministry of Transport has two important appointments, both at the Supreme Court and at the Socialist Audi, in order to be able to put the case on the back burner.

Pressure in the Congress of Deputies

However, the Montoro case has not been overlooked in the Congress of Deputies, which will hold its last plenary session before the summer this Tuesday. ERC supports the creation of a commission of inquiry into the case, and Sumar, Yolanda Díaz's party, has already announced its intention to register the proposal soon. In a statement on Monday, Sumar defends this commission to "clarify political and institutional responsibilities" and determine the role played by the companies that obtained tax benefits through this scheme. The party led by Díaz is already in contact with the other parties. Socialist sources, for example, acknowledge that they welcome the initiative.

In any case, Pedro Sánchez's investiture partners have not forgotten that corruption is also at work within their party. For example, for Esquerra, the Cerdán and Montoro cases demonstrate that Spain has "democratic deficits": "Any state that has corruption rooted in its foundations is a state that violates equal opportunity, equality, and democracy," stated the ERC spokesperson.