The financial institution of 'Sanchismo' falls

It's worth examining the chronology of events described by the Civil Guard and comparing it with Pedro Sánchez 's political career since he entered public life. The conclusion is that, back in 2014, his necessary collaborators began tampering with the PSOE primaries and, as soon as they came to power, began manipulating public works tenders. In other words, they began defrauding members and then proceeded to rob the Spanish people as a whole.

The UCO report says that Santos Cerdán and José Luis Ábalos have profited financially, or even carnally, from a persistent scheme, but the president continues to collect the big dividend. To that end, he placed two immoral individuals in the four strategic positions from which to finance and seize power: Peugeot, the Secretariat of Organization, the ministry with the largest budget, and the negotiating committee with Carles Puigdemont in Switzerland, where the corrupt keep their money. "This isn't about me," he said yesterday, describing something that's only about him, and announced that he will remain in Moncloa to "regenerate democratic life." Tremendous insolence.

Political responsibility is a fluid but essential concept. When a leader exercises it, for example by resigning over a corruption case or submitting his authority to a vote of confidence, he does so to protect democracy from public discredit or, in other words, to instill a sense of anti-politics in the community.

It's only natural that something like this isn't part of Sánchez's plans. You can't ask someone who thrives on weakening the system to strengthen it. With the institutional destruction his resistance causes, he's once again making a virtue out of necessity. His plan will only succeed in a worse democracy.

Sánchez already has his closest family circle on the verge of prosecution for issues related to conflicts of interest, and two key figures in his political career for public and private corruption. He also has "his" Attorney General for revealing secrets to attack a rival. A complaint has been admitted for setting up a small-time Gestapo in Ferraz to intimidate the UCO (University of Cordoba). But he maintains that it's appropriate to remain in government to, he says, "cooperate with the judiciary." His ministers call judges prevaricators day in and day out, while preparing a Hungarian-style reform to bring them back into line.

Yesterday, there was some hope that Sánchez would allow his fervent followers to come to terms with reality. That is, that he would acknowledge that he lost the elections, that he can't govern without a budget, that he lacks the parliamentary strength to pass laws, that Brussels has given him the all-clear for putting an agenda that divides Spaniards over one that unites Europeans, that NATO doesn't trust his word, that judges are fair, and that the press has a duty to monitor power.

But he preferred to present himself as a victim, assuming his partners would raise his fees, and realigning the chorus of sycophants. He didn't want the staff to realize that Koldo, Ábalos, and Cerdán were merely the shady financiers of that unruly exercise of power called Sanchismo.