Política

The popular Jorge Azcón is again president of Aragón. After almost five months of institutional deadlock in the community, the popular leader has renewed the position with the support of his 26 deputies and the 13 from Vox (there was one absent), which in February doubled its representation and has leveraged that new weight both in the ideology of the government program and in its organizational chart, where they will hold a vice presidency and three ministries (Deregulation, Social Welfare and Family; Environment and Tourism; and Livestock, Agriculture and Food).

Chief inspector with professional ID 81.067 is not just another police officer among the line of uniformed officers who have testified—or will testify—as witnesses in the National Court room where the Kitchen Operation trial is taking place. So far, some—assuming their testimony will be brief—have answered questions standing about their knowledge of the parapolice device used to monitor the former treasurer of the Popular Party, Luis Bárcenas. Others have preferred to sit down and get comfortable, uncertain about how long the interrogation will last. Agent 81.067 went further: he used a side table to carefully arrange stacks of reports and a laptop on which he could consult data down to the last detail. All this under the incredulous gaze of the court, which had to remind him that the oral hearing “favors spontaneity,” “what memory allows to recall.” The meticulous police officer is Manuel Morocho, the lead investigator of the Gürtel case, who struck at the defenses’ weak point by confirming that there was a parallel investigation into Bárcenas without judicial permission.

The rejection yesterday in Congress of the decree containing the extraordinary extension of rents opens a scenario of legal uncertainty that may pit tenants who, while the regulation was in force, requested this two-year contract extension, against the owners of these homes, to which the Government admits that there may be lawsuits and trusts that the courts will be in favor of the right to housing.

Víctor de Almada’s statement this Wednesday in the ongoing Supreme Court trial against former minister José Luis Ábalos, in which the controversial businessman accused Pedro Sánchez of being aware of alleged irregular financing in the PSOE, although again without providing any evidence, has once again stirred up Moncloa and the Ferraz leadership, who have expressed their irritation. The socialists immediately announced that they will again seek protection before the Supreme Court, for the “insults and slanders” they have attributed to Aldama. “We will not allow ourselves to be defamed with impunity,” warned the PSOE leadership.

The broker Víctor de Aldama, who at one time reached a deal with the Prosecutor’s Office to get out of prison for another case, has appeared before the Supreme Court judging him for the mask case, willing to explain how he paid the former Minister of Transport José Luis Ábalos and his then advisor Koldo García, also in the dock. He has elaborated on all the corruption within the Ministry and beyond. That red line, according to the businessman, was crossed at Ábalos’s request because – he declared – “he needed money for the party’s financing” and the president knew all about it.

The spokesperson of the PNV in Congress, Maribel Vaquero, has demanded this Wednesday that Pedro Sánchez take care of the substance of his relationships, but also the forms, and not lose respect for them: “You will know how you want to get to the election call, whether you want company or not,” she warned him. And the President of the Government has tried to soothe the enormous irritation that the jeltzale formation increasingly reveals: “Of course I want company, and also good company like that of the PNV.”

The Aragonese Institute of Catalan is a small body integrated into the Aragonese Academy of Language. Created by decree in 2018, it was not effectively constituted until March 2022, and its very reduced cost is financed within Aragon’s own budgets.

The crucial moment arrives in the trial for the mask case. The three defendants, former minister José Luis Ábalos, his advisor Koldo García, and the commissioner Víctor de Aldama, will testify between today’s and tomorrow’s sessions, which are expected to be long. This Wednesday’s session will begin with the interrogation of the businessman, one of the key pieces of this process, which was initiated, among other things, thanks to his agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office. Will Aldama provide new data on the activities of the alleged plot? That is one of the questions hanging over this Wednesday’s session.

Catalonia will not have a parity investment consortium between the State and the Generalitat. The bill presented by Esquerra Republicana with the aim of creating an entity that would allow jointly planning, deciding, and executing investments in state-owned infrastructures in Catalan territory will not become a reality after Congress rejected its consideration with the votes of PP, Vox, Junts, PNV, and UPN. In other words, the proposal worked on jointly by ERC, the Govern, and the Government did not even pass the first filter.

The Government suffered yesterday in Congress one of the most resounding parliamentary defeats of the legislature after PP, Vox and Junts joined forces to overturn the housing decree promoted by one of the partners, Sumar.