Spanish parliament approves new committee to probe COVID corruption cases

The Spanish parliament approved a new committee of inquiry to investigate alleged cases of corruption in the purchase of masks and medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 on Thursday, starting with the so-called “Koldo case” involving a former minister of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D).

The initiative of Sanchez’s socialist PSOE party, received backing from 175 lawmakers, all from the prime minister’s allied parties in parliament – the Catalan separatist formations Together for Catalonia (JxCat) and Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), plus the two main parties in the Basque Country, PNV and EH Bildu, and other smaller formations, Euractiv’s partner EFE reported.

However, it did not receive support from the far-right VOX party, the third largest force in parliament, while the Spanish People’s Party (Partido Popular/EPP), the main opposition formation in the Chamber, abstained.

Former transport minister José Luis Ábalos, now an independent MP after being expelled from the PSOE – and embroiled in a multi-million euro bribery scandal, dubbed the “Koldo case, which directly implicates one of his closest advisers – voted in favour of the initiative.

This is the third committee of inquiry set up by Spanish public institutions to investigate the alleged collection of illegal commissions for the purchase of face masks and individual protective equipment for health workers during the worst months of the pandemic (March-May 2020).

Similar initiatives were previously launched by the senate and the regional parliament of the Balearic Islands, EFE reported.

The new committee aims to clarify “the facts, responsibilities, and to learn lessons” about public procurement for the purchase of health material during the pandemic by the state administration and its various bodies, as well as by other Spanish public administrations, and to draw the necessary conclusions so that any procedural “errors” are not repeated.

“This country needs answers to make the necessary changes (in public procurement legislation) so that scoundrels do not sneak back in through the back door or have no one or no family member open the door for them,” said PSOE spokeswoman Esther Peña.

“No one should feel intimidated by this committee. We are not”, she added, as she took jabs at Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP/EPP), whose partner is under investigation by the Spanish tax authorities for alleged tax fraud in a case also linked to the collection of illegal commissions for the purchase of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)