SPAIN: Detention Of Fmr. Transport Min Risks Complete Parliament Gridlock

Former Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos has been ordered to prison by the Supreme Court after determining that the former Secretary-General of the governing centre-left PSOE was a flight risk. Abalos, his aide Koldo García, and businessman Víctor de Aldama are accused of masterminding an alleged corruption scheme centred on the purchase and sale of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

• Crucially, unlike Santos Cerdan, another lawmaker and Abalos' successor as PSOE Sec-Gen, Abalos did not resign his seat in the Congress of Deputies ahead of his detention. Under the Congress's Rules of Procedure, Abalos is almost certain to lose his voting rights but not yet his position as a deputy.
• Following the withdrawal of the pro-Catalan independence Junts from a confidence-and-supply agreement with PM Pedro Sanchez's minority leftist gov't in June, the margins in parliament have been razor-thin.
• Sanchez's PSOE-Sumar gov't can rely on 171 votes (including confidence-and-supply). Right-wing opposition parties total 171 deputies. Junts has not been not inclined to side with the right in votes, given their stark political differences. As such, this risks a completely even split in parliament.
• Unlike most other legislatures, there is no tie-breaking vote in the Congress of Deputies. Under Section 88 of the Standing Orders, three tied votes in a row means the proposal is deemed to have been rejected.
• As such, the gov'ts already waning ability to pass legislation may have been fully extinguished by Abalos' detention.