Corruption has marked political life in Spain since the transition beyond governments, parties and administrations, to the point of becoming one of the reasons for alternation in the State Government in various legislatures, both at the polls and through a motion of censure.
One of these periods marked by cases and accusations of corruption was that of the last Executive of Felipe González, accompanied by a serious economic crisis postponed by the 1992 Olympic Games and the Universal Exhibition in Seville. It was also the first socialist government without an absolute majority.
After holding a historic face-to-face on television a year earlier with President Felipe González, José María Aznar articulated an opposition based on personal confrontation that, although it was not enough to prevail in those early elections in which the PSOE saw the Government in danger, was It earned him to gain public relevance.
In the debate on the state of the nation that was held in April 1994, the leader of the PP took advantage of the corruption cases that dominated the front pages of the press to demand that the president resign with the already popular 'Go away, Mr González'. A task in which he was supported by the spokesman for the United Left, Julio Anguita, in what the PSOE called an unnatural 'clamp'.
The elections to the European Parliament that were held that same year and the regional and municipal elections of 1995 reflected a change in trend that would be confirmed in 1996, the year in which José María Aznar's PP would win the elections for the first time in what marked the democratic return of the right to power from the Republic.
"Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, what will be the next scandal, Mr. González? To what extremes have things had to go and have they had to go for this single question to summarize the state of the nation? What is happening in this country where every morning we wake up afraid of finding out about a new scandal?
”What is happening so that citizens perceive a sensation of impunity, that nobody here is responsible for anything, that it is possible to corrupt, defraud or deceive without any consequences for anyone? Things have gone too far; infinitely further than we would have ever imagined that they could go in Spanish democracy.
”And corruption scandals break out in the most unexpected places. And you can no longer deny the evidence, Mr. González. For too long you have denied reality, or you have simplified it, alleging that it was about isolated or singular cases. The last time we held this debate, you said that Spain did not have a problem of corruption, but of public opinion. Is he able to maintain the same today? I think it can't.
”Today, corruption is a sad reality that can no longer be denied. And it is a serious reality because we are not talking about just anything; It is not about minor corruption that arises in the lower floors of the public administration; They are scandals that break out in the offices in which large institutions in the country are directed.
”We are talking about the Official State Gazette, Mr. González; we are talking about the Civil Guard, Mr. González; We are talking about Cesid, Mr. González; We are talking about the use of reserved funds, Mr. González; We are talking about the Bank of Spain, Mr. González.
"It is not one or two cases: there are many, there are too many, and they are serious, because they damage basic institutions of the system, because their discredit tarnishes the image of other institutions, because they dissolve the trust of citizens and because they seriously damage the image of Spain . And in all of them appear people linked to you, who have been appointed by you and who enjoy your confidence.
”Can you imagine, ladies and gentlemen, another nation in our European environment in which we discovered that the person in charge of security, the governor of the national bank, the Official Gazette and the use of reserved funds are involved in corruption scandals? Would we say, as Mr. González says, that they were isolated cases? That they didn't require withering answers? That they did not affect the credit of the prime minister?
”This morning you appeared in this chamber to demonstrate to the Spanish people your desire to fight corruption. Do you know how long it has taken you to deal with the matter that worries you the most at the moment in Spain? Seven minutes, Mr. González. And what has he come to tell us? He has come to tell us that he is going to propose measures that serve to end corruption.
”I fear, Mr. González, that your credit in this field has been exhausted. How do you expect us to take you seriously? We have already heard what you are saying today on other occasions, because this problem did not arise yesterday. Weren't you the one who uttered in this very chamber that famous phrase "two for the price of one"? Wasn't it you yourself who promised the students of the Autonomous University to assume all the responsibility that could arise from the Filesa scandal?
"Wasn't it you who announced two years ago that the government was going to investigate the Ibercorp scandal to the end? Weren't you the one who livened up the last elections with the presentation of a brilliant star candidate who was going to develop a crusade against corruption? Did you make all these proclamations because we were on election eve? Should we also understand now that his words are hot cloths to face the next electoral campaign?
”You undoubtedly like big phrases and big commitments, which you never keep. He has refused to review a single one of the corruption cases that have affected him in the 12 years that his government has lasted. How is it possible that you come to this chamber today with the pretense of making us believe that your attitude towards corruption has changed? You have enjoyed plenty of occasions to vent that feverish resolution that has been pressing you so much for the past few days.
”We cannot believe him because, in the face of repeated allegations of corruption, he has practiced a policy of appeasement, postponement and victimhood that is incompatible with the forcefulness and speed with which these enrichment phenomena should be stopped. You're too late even to wash your face, Mr. González.
”And do not intend to repeat the same sleight of hand now. That effort of his so that political responsibilities are only purged after legal ones, that clearly sectarian inactivity of the State Attorney General, that patrimonial conception of power according to which resignations are valued as political defeats and not as ethical and dignified behavior typical of a democracy, all of this has contributed to creating the climate of permissiveness, the feeling of impunity and the self-confidence that so strikingly characterizes the scandals we suffer.
”All of this has plunged Spanish society and all of this has led the Spanish political situation to the lowest level of prestige and public esteem since the beginnings of the constitutional system. And all of this makes you and your government unable to lead the fight against corruption that Spain needs. What are your words of yesterday worth? Nothing. What are your promises today worth? Exactly the same as yesterday.
”The only thing you do is drop ballast because you feel that the ship is sinking. What are you doing now that the scandals have reached an unbearable level? All they have done is tear their hair out and stage a kind of vigilante farce to try to make the responsibility fall on a scapegoat who is attacked with a fury by neo-converts eager to make them forget their own past.
"Well then, Mr. González, you know as well as I do that every time a credibility gap opens up in the government, it is necessary to designate a political leader. Citizens have the right to demand that politicians show their respect for the cleanliness of the system by assuming the responsibility that corresponds to them; citizens have the right to verify that the State is not mortgaged to private interests.
”The political person in charge before the nation is the Government, whoever you indicate from the Government or, failing that, yourself. We have not come here to deal with the faults of the people you named, but with the responsibility that falls to you for what they have done, which are very different things, Mr. González.
”In short, Mr. González, do you think it is serious to try once again to delay the responsibilities until the day when all those responsible have left the Government and it is impossible to demand them? What is that that the responsibilities will be seen when all the data is available? How much data do you need, and how many years to have the data? It is clear that when you say that you are going to carry out an investigation to the end, you are referring, without a doubt, to the end of your mandate; that is, it will not do anything.
"If you had acted like this, we would certainly not see ourselves in the situation we are in now. And his claim to reverse the democratic order of things can only be understood as one more attempt to evade the inescapable, which is his responsibility. That's where it hurts, Mr. González. It is the only thing that seems to bother him about corruption: his responsibility. And that is precisely where you have lost your credit.
”You are responsible for the breach that has opened in the credit of our democratic system. You are responsible for not even trying to correct it. You are responsible for Spain being singled out for impunity in its corruption scandals. You are responsible, with your passivity, with your tolerance, with your obstruction and with your delaying maneuvers, for creating the best fertile ground for corruption to grow and invigorate. You are responsible for having contributed to creating the most stifling moral climate in our recent history.
”Can we hope that with you in the government things will go differently? That with you in the Government things improve? Can we expect you to rectify? I think not, that you are not going to rectify. And he is not going to rectify because he cannot do it. You cannot rectify because, deep down, you do not see the path clearly, because you do not know what should be done. And if he knows it, he can't because he walks at the pace set by the pressures and commitments he needs to govern.
”He simply trusts that the wind will change, that external circumstances will correct the situation, that scandals will be forgotten and that his luck will improve. He cares very little about the price that we Spaniards have to pay. You, Mr. González, are not up to the needs of Spain, and you are not in a position to continue governing. You can patch up situations to get out of trouble, but you cannot govern; it is not in a position to rigorously address even a single problem. You cannot continue in the Government.
”You, who have caused the damage, cannot be the one to correct it. Take your responsibility and walk away. Do not make any more excuses. Don't say you're waiting for the judges to confirm the facts. The verb to resign, Mr. González, is conjugated with political responsibilities and not with judicial sentences. Spain needs a boost and you have become a hindrance. Go, Mr. González, do Spain a favor and go.
"In the current circumstances, he only has one honorable way out: present his resignation to the King and advise him as to which member of his party meets the best conditions to replace him. Go away, Mr. González. There is no other honorable way left for him. Solve his problems with his party, look for the replacement that seems most appropriate to you and prepare the investiture process. But do it now, because in addition to being necessary, it is urgent.
”As long as you continue in the Government, the corruption scandals will not be resolved, the prestige of our country will not recover, democratic stability will be more precarious and the confidence of the citizens will be less. And what is normal, healthy and desirable in a democracy should also be normal, healthy and desirable for you. Do not deny Spain its opportunity, Mr. González."
