The Socialist Parliamentary Group in the Senate has demanded the immediate cessation of the senior lawyer of the Upper House, Sara Sieira, after the PP has filed her name as a candidate for a Constitutional Court magistrate position (TC) through the Assembly of Madrid, understanding that her continued presence in the post puts the “neutrality and impartiality” of the designation process at risk.
In a document sent this Thursday to the Bureau of the Permanent Assembly of the Senate and signed by the Socialist spokesperson, Juan Espadas, the PSOE proposes that Sieira be formally required to submit her resignation and that, if she does not do so voluntarily within a maximum period of 24 hours, her immediate dismissal be agreed.
Sources from the PP in the Assembly of Madrid have confirmed to Europa Press that the party formalized Sieira’s candidacy for her election as a Constitutional Court magistrate by the Senate, accompanied by her express acceptance and the detailed list of her professional merits.
Sara Sieira has served as senior lawyer since January 18, 2024, the date on which she was appointed at the proposal of the President of the Chamber, Pedro Rollán. For the socialists, it is “incompatible” for the person responsible for the legal services of the Senate to appear as a candidate in a procedure whose legal correctness must be verified by the institution’s own General Secretariat.
Along these lines, the PSOE recalls that the functions of the senior lawyer include coordination of parliamentary administration and legal advice to the Chamber’s bodies. They add that, in the process of renewing the TC, it corresponds to the legal services to verify that the candidacies meet the legal and constitutional requirements, review the merits submitted, and warn of possible grounds that could prevent the election.
For this reason, the socialists argue that the situation violates the principle that “no one can be judge and party” in a procedure that directly affects the personal interests of the person who must ensure its proper processing.
In addition, Espadas considers that “even Sieira’s abstention would not be sufficient to guarantee impartiality,” since the review of the candidacies would fall to the deputy secretary general for Parliamentary Affairs, appointed by her and over whose dismissal it also has the capacity to decide.
"It causes bewilderment that Mrs. Sieira believed it possible that she could remain in her position for a single minute when, by accepting the candidacy, she became an interested party in a procedure that she herself had to oversee," the document states.
The PSOE also warns that this circumstance could call into question the validity of the renewal of the TC, understanding that a procedure in which the candidacies are not analyzed with "objectivity and independence" could involve a defect that renders it null.
The PSOE defends the resignation as "the only way out"
In this context, the socialists argue that Sieira's resignation is "the only way out" to safeguard the neutrality of the legal services, ensure equal conditions between the candidacies, and rebuild trust in the institutions.
For this reason, Espadas calls on the Permanent Committee (Mesa) of the Diputación Permanente to formally demand her resignation and that, if it does not occur within a period of 24 hours, her removal be agreed upon due to the "surviving loss of the conditions of suitability, trust, and institutional impartiality necessary to carry out her responsibility." The document also proposes that her replacement be taken on by the Deputy Secretary General, in accordance with the mechanisms provided for in the Chamber's internal organization.
"It is yet another lack of respect for the Chamber that seriously jeopardizes the constitutional function it has in the election of members of the TC and the final flourish of the abuse of absolute majority that this group has perpetrated throughout the legislature without the slightest institutional shame," the document denounces.
The socialists conclude that they will adopt "all the legal measures" within their reach to restore citizens' trust in the Senate, an institution which, in their view, the PP "seems determined to destroy."