It is common for Vox to legally denounce members of the Government for their role in various crises. They did so, for example, when they requested an investigation into Pedro Sánchez for reckless homicide and failure to provide assistance in the management of the DANA, or also for the first of these crimes in relation to last summer’s fires. But Santiago Abascal’s party had never requested an investigation into the president and his cabinet for “possible crimes of treason and against the security of the State.” This is what Vox wants to happen now, “due to the very serious events related to the recent invasion of Ceuta.”
However, article 102 of the Constitution establishes that an accusation against the head of the Executive or their ministers for such crimes “can only be brought at the initiative of one quarter of the members of the Congress.” This means that 88 deputies from the Lower House must propose to initiate that investigation. Vox, however, only has 32 seats in the Lower House, so the party wanted to convey this Saturday that its deputies are “at the disposal of any parliamentary groups willing to promote this constitutional initiative.”
The hard-right party has thus made an “express call to the rest of the political forces to allow the opening of the procedure provided for by the Constitution.” The requirements established by the Magna Carta to start that investigation are not limited to one quarter of the deputies having to propose it—the sum of Vox with the PP could suffice—but it also requires that the initiative be approved by an absolute majority of the Congress. This, already, is not solely in the hands of Abascal’s and Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s parties—who, in any case, have never proposed to initiate this kind of investigation.
Read more Felipe VI and Milei coincide at the inauguration of De la Espriella and protagonize a unique moment
The parliamentary processing of the request to investigate a president or minister for crimes of treason or against the security of the State also has its own procedure. If the proposal is signed by the required 88 deputies, a secret session of the Plenary of the Congress must be convened to debate it, in which the affected party may intervene. The final vote would be secret and, if approved, it would be communicated to the Supreme Court, the competent body to initiate a criminal responsibility investigation if the accused is the president or a minister. If the initiative is rejected, no actions can be initiated against members of the Government for the mentioned crimes, as stated on the Congress portal explaining the constitutional articles.
“There are more than enough indications and evidence,” Abascal wrote this Saturday on his social networks when, around eight in the evening, he announced the new action his party is launching. This, in any case, means raising more than ever the degree to which the party attributes responsibilities to Sánchez or any minister. This is well reflected in how its most prominent leaders quickly echoed the announcement Vox had reserved for this Saturday. “The Congress must take Sánchez to the Supreme Court for treason and against the security of the State. No matter how unprecedented it is,” wrote its Deputy Secretary of Political Action, Ignacio Hoces.
Read more The ‘weapons’ of Spain to neutralize Morocco’s pressures with migrants
