[Politics] Pablo Casado, on institutional renewal: "We haven't started talking about names"

[MussicOnPro!]

The president of the PP and leader of the opposition, Pablo Casado, affirmed this Monday during an interview on Onda Cero that his party and the Government have not "begun to talk about names" for the renewal of the constitutional bodies that have committed to agree; among them, the Constitutional Court. However, Casado has indicated that he hopes that this week "names can be put on the table", and has defended that these are not "politicians in office or who have just left" a political position, with express mention of the Constitutional Court and before the possible candidacy of former Minister of Justice Juan Carlos Campo. Last Thursday and just 24 hours after the PP offered to unblock the negotiations on the institutions with the expired mandate (except that of the General Council of the Judicial Power), the first major agreement was reached with the Executive: the renewal of the Constitutional Court, The Court of Accounts, the Ombudsman and the Data Protection Agency.

The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has been left out of the agreement because the PP refuses to address this negotiation if there is not a commitment to change the law so that it is the judges, and not Parliament, who directly elect its members . Casado insisted today on that demand: "If Pedro Sánchez agrees to modify the law, there will be a renewal of the CGPJ." In the current system of election, it is the legislative chambers that designate the 20 members of the judges' government, although 12 of those members are chosen from among the names proposed by the judges themselves. The po[CENSORED]r leader considers that he cannot agree to renew that body (which has been in office for almost three years, and with a relationship of forces that corresponds to when the PP ruled with a majority) if there is "a perception of politicization" and the method designation is not in line with what Europe is asking for.

Regarding the Constitutional Court, on the other hand, Casado has defended the relevance of the executive and legislative powers intervening in the election because “it is not a judicial body” but a “political one”; although he went on to clarify that he did not mean that it is at the service of the political parties, but rather that it is not a strictly judicial body but one of constitutional guarantees. Regarding why the PP did not change the system for the CGPJ when they governed with an absolute majority, he stated: “I am elected by primaries in my party with a mandate and with a program that I have to fulfill. And I am the first to praise what Mr. Aznar and Mr. Rajoy did. They made a reform that went further in the depoliticization, but it did not reach the maximum ”.

Casado has stated that the PP can reach other political agreements with Sánchez, but if he makes a “turn to moderation”: “Let him say that tomorrow he breaks with Podemos, that tomorrow he breaks with the independentists and that he refuses to agree with Bildu, and the Po[CENSORED]r Party will be there ”, he said. In his opinion, the intention expressed by Pedro Sánchez at the 40th congress of the PSOE, held this weekend, to abolish the PP labor reform and what is known as the gag law does not make it "more moderate or more social democratic", but "more radical". A response to the main slogan of the socialists during the convention, which has been, precisely, the demand of social democracy. On the image of unity that the PSOE has projected, the po[CENSORED]r leader has affirmed: "It seems to me very good that the heads that he had hanging on his fireplace now applaud him, but the PP is not his comparsa."

Finally, Casado has closed the door to a possible constitutional reform: "As we now open the Constitution, with which Catalonia is falling, we will be making a mistake." This same Thursday morning, Pedro Sánchez has defended his will to reform it in an interview on Cadena SER, but he has rejected it for not having the agreement of the Po[CENSORED]r Party, whose votes are necessary to exceed the required qualified majority.

 

Abortion law
The PP leader has also referred to his position on abortion, although he still does not fully clarify it. Casado has stated that he will wait for the Constitutional Court to rule on the appeal that the PP has filed against the current deadline law, and meanwhile ―if it reaches the Government― it will approve a “maternity” law, “so that there are measures prosecutors, work-life balance, housing, that help women to be mothers ”. “Until the Constitutional Court does not resolve the use of abortion or euthanasia, we are going to put laws that help what really matters to us, which is that in Spain there is a very large demographic deficit and that is what interests us , that people can have children, and whoever does it with public aid ”. These are "measures that are not criminal, are not punitive," he specified.

Official sources of the PP assured EL PAÍS days ago that the party plans, if it reaches La Moncloa, to repeal the current abortion law, although it receives the endorsement of the Constitutional Court. "Whether the court says one thing or the other, when we get to the government we are going to promote an alternative law," said those sources. From the leadership of the PP they stressed that they will replace "the radical laws of Sánchez by positive laws", and that will be so "whatever the Constitutional Court says", with an action "in parallel". Casado has specified this Thursday that he will wait for the Constitutional Court to resolve his appeal, but does not clarify what he will do after the judicial decision.

LINK: https://elpais.com/espana/2021-10-18/pablo-casado-sobre-la-renovacion-institucional-no-hemos-empezado-a-hablar-de-nombres.html