The Electoral Board has allowed the Podemos banner to continue with the image of Isabel Díaz Ayuso's brother on Goya Street in Madrid, one of the capital's commercial streets.
The purple formation placed a canvas on Friday with a tweet from the former leader of the PP Pablo Casado and with a photograph of the brother of the president of the Community of Madrid and PP candidate for re-election.
According to the letter of the Electoral Board, to which La Vanguardia has had access, it requires the political party Podemos "to proceed with the installation, on the front of the poster, of some element/logo that clearly identifies the ownership of the same".
In this way, he partially upholds the appeal that the PP filed on Saturday, arguing that it is a doctrine established by the Central Electoral Board that "it is contrary to the principle of transparency that should govern any electoral campaign that any subject, whether a political party or not, carry out a electoral advertising campaign using the symbols, colors or typography usually identifying another that may mislead voters about the authorship of the electoral message, as well as any natural or legal person disseminating electoral propaganda anonymously, without identifying themselves with the messages elections that he presents".
And it is that the canvas put up by Podemos creates a tweet with the account, logo and colors of the Popular Party and with the words of its former leader, Pablo Casado, collected from an interview with the Cope network in February 2022, in the middle of the controversy over the Community commissions obtained by the brother of the regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
"After examining the complaint made by the PP and the allegations presented by Podemos, it is verified that the canvas can mislead voters as to its ownership, since only the Podemos emblem is visible on the sides and not on the front, this being the most visible part for the public", points out the Electoral Board of the Madrid area.
Regarding the content of the poster, they ensure that "it is not their competence to settle issues related to the infringement of rights contained in Organic Law 1/1982, of May 5, on civil protection of the right to honor, personal and family privacy and to the image itself, and must, where appropriate, resort to the appropriate procedural channels".
On Saturday the PP filed an appeal with the Electoral Board, in which it demanded the immediate removal of the purple canvas. Among his arguments was that "it may seem at first glance" that "it has been placed by the PP."
"The message is contrary to the principle of transparency that must govern any electoral campaign. It is contrary to electoral regulations for any subject, whether a political party or not, to carry out an electoral advertising campaign using the symbols, colors or typography usually identifying another that may mislead voters about the authorship of the electoral message", they state, in addition to emphasizing that the name of Podemos did not appear on said canvas, although it does put it on one side.
In addition, according to the PP, "it spreads an alleged tweet that has been manipulated since said tweet in the terms expressed on the canvas does not conform to its literalness, introducing some changes in the original that distort the reality of what was expressed in its day, creating confusion for the public".
The image of a third party (Ayuso's brother) is included under the headline 'You have to throw them out', implying that the object of the disapproval is a person outside this process, and that he never appeared in the original manipulated tweet. In fact, they argue that it uses the image of a person "without their authorization, which is a violation of the constitutional right to one's own image."
The canvas placed by Podemos, whose candidacies for the Community and the City Council are led by Alejandra Jacinto and Roberto Sotomayor respectively, reproduces a tweet published by the PP account on Twitter and which quotes a phrase from Pablo Casado, who wondered: "The The question is whether it is understandable that on April 1, when 700 people died in Spain, you can contract with your sister and receive 286,000 euros of profit for selling masks.
Last week, Alejandra Jacinto and the Minister of Social Rights and Secretary General of Podemos, Ione Belarra, have worn t-shirts with the face of the brother of the regional president and a phrase that the former president of the PP Pablo Casado launched on Cadena Cope against her . Belarra assured last Sunday at a rally that she would remove said canvas if Tomás Díaz Ayuso returned the money he received from the Community of Madrid.
In addition, the purple formation reported that "without any doubt the authorship of Podemos is recognized" in this message, which can be seen "clearly" on the sides of the canvas where the name of Podemos appears and that the typography is also used typical used by the party, in addition to its corporate color. Besides, it defends that the text of the poster is limited to reproducing "exactly the verbatim" of an official tweet of the PP which, in turn, reproduces "word for word the statements of Pablo Casado".
He also stressed that the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, used a similar strategy in some electoral posters installed in the subway during the 2019 elections, when he used the image of "political opponents", (specifically a photograph of the former leader of Podemos Pablo Iglesias and co-founder Juan Carlos Monedero) to ask for a vote. Therefore, from the training it is "surprising" the complaint now brandished by the PP of Madrid.
Regarding the case of Ayuso's brother, Podemos "absolutely" denies that there is any illegitimate interference with fundamental rights, given that it is a snapshot taken "in a public act and that has already been reproduced in the media."
Moreover, it stresses that the identity of that person (Ayuso's brother), as well as the economic activity carried out, is of "undoubted political significance, and of course it is legitimately possible to be the object of political criticism, which is what is intended with the cartel" whose withdrawal was demanded by the PP.
"Let's remember that it had political significance to such an extent that it was a fact that led to an accelerated process of dismissal of who at that time was the president of the PP, with the chronology that we well know. Therefore, the inclusion of his image is not in any way some free or unnecessary, but is fully justified due to the facts that are denounced there, and in evident connection with the message that is transmitted, therefore forming part of the political debate, "deepens the letter of Podemos.
