In Spain, the PP is accused of offering Koldo money to frame Sánchez

Madrid. In Spain, the ‘underbelly’ of politics – the labyrinthine corridors where the dirtiest tactics against opponents are hatched – is referred to as ‘cloache’, like the drainage channels of the ancient Roman sewer system. The ‘cloaca maxima’, in this instance, is that of the Socialist Party (PSOE), with several prominent members under investigation, suspected of having organised smear campaigns and intimidation tactics against magistrates, journalists and law enforcement officers whose work was getting in the way of those pulling the strings. Among the main suspects is the PSOE’s former organisational secretary, Santos Cerdán, alongside other Socialist powerbrokers such as Leire Díez and Koldo García.

In recent days, what appears to be a – as yet minor – branch of a scandal has come to light, one which this time seems to lead straight to the headquarters of the People’s Party (PP) led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the man who, according to the polls, is set to become the next prime minister. According to some accounts, the PP is said to have offered money and significant reductions in his sentence to Koldo García himself, in exchange for a confession that was supposed to directly implicate Pedro Sánchez. Koldo is currently at the centre of several ongoing investigations and at least one that has already concluded with his sentencing to 19 years’ imprisonment for bribery relating to anti-Covid face masks, alongside the former Minister of Transport and right-hand man of the Socialist Prime Minister, José Luis Ábalos (sentenced to 24 years). The latest development is that, amidst this judicial debacle, the PP itself has reportedly thrown him an unexpected lifeline.

What currently seems certain is that, in order to defend himself in court, the Basque fixer was able to rely on a strange payment of around 240,000 euros from Okdiario, a right-wing digital tabloid famous for its aggressive and sensationalist style. This fact was known because Koldo’s lawyer had shown the invoices to the judges. The latest development is the claim that this payment was part of a broader deal: for Koldo, it included 1 million euros and a reduction in his sentence that would have spared him from prison – a sentence he is now serving alongside his true political godfather, the former minister Ábalos (who, like him, is in prison over the medical face mask scandal). In return, the PP is said to have asked Koldo to give an exclusive interview to the online newspaper, levelling explicit accusations at Pedro Sánchez. The content of the interview would then have become the subject of a new line of inquiry, and the Prime Minister would no longer have been able to claim he was uninvolved in the many corruption cases that have been plaguing his family members and closest associates for years.

Alberto Durán, a lawyer for the PP, is said to have been the key intermediary in the agreement, with whom Koldo claims to have negotiated face-to-face. It is worth noting that the PP participates in judicial investigations through the institution of the acusación popular, which is effectively a ‘people’s prosecution’ with the power to bring criminal proceedings in a more autonomous and direct manner than simply joining the proceedings as a civil party.

The most serious stumbling block for the PP is that, initially, the party leadership denied any meeting with Koldo, whilst they now admit that the meeting did take place, but that no one ever offered him any money. In short, their initial, unyielding version of events is beginning to crumble. All this may give the average Spaniard cause for concern as they head to the polls on 29 November, but it is obviously a huge relief for the PSOE and for Sánchez. After years of legal scandals, contentious and inconclusive coalition governments, and the tragic rail accidents of recent months, this election campaign requires an extremely difficult comeback.

The tactic is to appear less and less like the party of the establishment and increasingly closer to the people. The camp-out at Puerta del Sol for the right to housing served this purpose. On Wednesday there is also a general strike, an initiative designed more to oppose a likely future centre-right government than the current one. This tactic is made possible by trade unions that have been brought to heel. Meanwhile, in the polls, the PSOE is falling but not collapsing. Could Koldo’s latest statements help it climb back up, or perhaps drag the PP down with it? Between the two squabbling parties, the third is Vox, the only party that is growing and seems capable of doubling its number of seats.