This Thursday, the PSOE-M registered a petition to analyze the causes that caused mortality derived from the pandemic in residential centers for the elderly in the Community of Madrid. The initiative comes after the PP promoted an investigation in the regional Chamber into possible irregularities in the relationship between Begoña Gómez, Pedro Sánchez’s wife, and the Complutense University of Madrid.
“Since Ayuso has that investigative spirit, the Socialist Party proposes again, and I hope that Ayuso’s PP does not veto it, an investigation commission to study what happened in the residences and that it never happens again that there are 7,291 people who died without receiving health care,” indicated the spokesperson in the Assembly of the Socialist Party, Juan Lobato. In the request presented, the party specifies that it is necessary to analyze whether health resources in the region were sufficient to meet the needs of people living in residences during the pandemic. Likewise, they consider it appropriate to study whether the referral protocol to hospitals was adequate.
The socialists clarify that this investigation into the residences It was already promoted two legislatures ago. However, they clarify that the working group “could not finish its work and draw up conclusions as a result of the dissolution of the Chamber and the calling of early elections.”
The opening of this commission occurs after the PP began an investigation into the “alleged irregularities in the management of chairs and postgraduate courses” by Begoña González at the Complutense University of Madrid. The political party indicated that, according to published information, there could have been favorable treatment for the companies and entities that financed these programs. The text presented for the creation of this initiative adds that, if these accusations are true, it could constitute a “crime” and a “case of nepotism and politicization in access to the university and in its operation.” The popular ones estimate that the first session of this commission could be held in October 2024 and extended until February 2025.
“Five days before the European elections, they announce a commission of inquiry for October. This is what Ayuso’s absolute majority is about,” Lobato has criticized on his social network
“What we want to know is why a woman without a degree, with a husband [Pedro Sánchez] whose false thesis comes from private universities, have been making alleged businesses that tarnish the name of the most important university in the Community of Madrid for months,” said the president of the Community of Madrid during the control session of the Plenary Session of the regional Chamber. “What have they been doing with all that? That’s the only thing we want to know,” he asked the socialist leader
For his part, the PP spokesperson in the Assembly, Calor Díaz-Pache, has expressed that the object of his investigation is about “Begoña’s shenanigans” and clarifying what happened to the extraordinary chair that he directed. Pache considers that the actions of the PSOE-M It is “a desperate move to cover up the corruption of his own party.” The spokesperson emphasizes that his case deals with a current issue, unlike the commission raised by the socialists: “The courts have ruled in favor of the Community of Madrid on 21 occasions regarding its actions in the pandemic.” At the moment the names of the people who will appear are unknown.
The rest of the groups that make up the Chamber have also spoken out about this announcement. From Más Madrid, their spokesperson, Manuela Bergerot, has stated that they will support any investigative commission “that guarantees the right to the truth about the deaths in the residences.” The initiative proposed by the PP has been described as “a circus” to get a headline on “election eve.”
For the Vox spokesperson, Rocío Monasterio, if Ayuso and the PP are so interested in knowing the details about the relationship between the wife of the president of the Government of Spain and the Complutense University, They should “make the commission in July, I get the feeling that they don’t want to push.” Regarding the Socialist Party’s announcement, the leader has avoided commenting until she analyzes the proposal. However, Monasterio has stated that “expenses should not be charged to those who died in the residence, it is a gesture of humanity.”
The commission that the PSOE-M has registered should be established during October of this year and its work is scheduled to end in February 2025. The Socialist Party specifies that in these appearances the report that the Citizen Commission for the truth in the Madrid Residences presented in March. According to the conclusions of this report, during the first wave of Covid there was an “excess mortality in the region’s residences, double that in other autonomous communities.” In addition, it states that if other referral criteria had been applied to hospitals “4,000 lives would have been saved” of the 7,291 deaths.
