The president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has censured this Tuesday that the Government "disqualifies" the sentence that imposes a conviction on David Sánchez, brother of the head of the Executive. He stressed that he is "concerned" about this "attitude" of Pedro Sánchez's team, which, in his opinion, "must do is comply with" the judicial ruling.
"We are beginning to enter a dangerous sphere and it worries me," Feijóo told the press, after the Provincial Court of Badajoz has imposed on Sánchez's brother a penalty of special disqualification from employment or public office and from exercising the right to passive suffrage for nine years. The judicial resolution attributes to David Sánchez the condition of author by necessary cooperation of a crime of administrative prevarication.
After the Court's decision became known, the Government spokesperson, Elma Saiz, vindicated the "innocence" of David Sánchez and questioned the procedure, emphasizing that the complaint originated from an "ultra-right-wing organization" and recalling that the Prosecutor's Office requested his acquittal.
Unanimous conviction and without dissenting votes
In statements in the corridors of Congress, Feijóo emphasized that the conviction of the president's brother has been issued "unanimously." "It has no blemish, nor amendment, nor dissenting vote. He was accused of three crimes and they have convicted him of one," he indicated.
After the Government stated that it is "outrageous" to convict an "innocent person without evidence," Feijóo lashed out at these statements. "Who is the Government to disqualify the sentence of the Provincial Court of Badajoz? The Government must comply with it," he insisted.
The opposition leader also recalled that this procedure "was born with an initial complaint from the party that governed with the Socialist Party, which is Podemos." "What is the Government talking about? We are beginning to enter a dangerous sphere and it worries me," he reiterated.
Asked about the possible political implications of this judicial resolution, the PP leader remarked that this is "the first time in 48 years of democracy that the brother of the President of the Government has been convicted of disqualification as a public official and also from running in elections."
"It is evident that cronyism in public administrations cannot be in any Government," he stated, adding that whoever holds a position in the administration has "the obligation" to go to their workplace and "also to pay taxes" in their country because "that is what they receive a public salary for."
Criticism of the Executive's Reaction
Feijóo has reiterated that there is "unanimity" in the Provincial Court of Badajoz and that "the initial complaint" comes from Podemos. "What is being discussed? What is it that the Government does not like?" he asked, underlining again that the Executive's stance "worries him."
The president of the PP has also maintained that "the Government's attitude" is "instigated by the president" because "there is no minister who can say what he has said" without the "authorization and impulse" of the head of the Executive. "And this is worrying. I tell you it is worrying because we had never experienced this in a democracy," he concluded.