The JEC files Isabel Rodríguez for the second time for skipping neutrality in Moncloa

The work with Isabel Rodríguez accumulates to the Central Electoral Board. This Wednesday, the arbitration body has decided to initiate a new sanction file, the second in a row in this electoral cycle, for breaching its duty of neutrality in the press conference after the Council of Ministers on May 3.

This is how it appears in a resolution to which EL ESPAÑOL has had access. Since the municipal and regional elections were convened on May 28, and after this resolution, the government spokesperson has already been warned up to four times for improper use of the Moncloa Palace press room.

Once again, the JEC responds to a lawsuit filed by the Popular Party against Rodríguez and rules that his statements during the aforementioned appearance “allegedly violated the prohibition that stems” from the Electoral Law, which prevents the Executive from exhibiting its achievements or criticizing the the opposition in public spaces.

[The Electoral Board files on the spokesperson and the Government defends its right to criticize the PP]

In addition, the Board once again urges the minister to remove from the official government website the demonstrations considered electoral, while calling on her to “extend her diligence in future institutional acts to avoid violating the principle of neutrality that the public powers are obliged to respect during the electoral process”.

However, the request made by the main opposition party that the maximum fine for her conduct be imposed on the also responsible for Territorial Policy. “This could only be possible, where appropriate, after the conclusion of the pertinent sanctioning file,” the Electoral Board qualifies.

Moncloa's defense

The facts denounced by the popular have to do with the references made by the government spokesperson to the controversial participation of Bolaños in the events of the Day of the Community of Madrid, on May 2. Regarding this issue, he went so far as to accuse the PP of being an “anti-system party.”

So, knowing that Rodríguez was exposing himself to a new setback from the JEC, sources from Moncloa already defended this newspaper that “during question time, the spokeswoman” answered the PP “when precisely an assessment was requested”. “Not responding to the PP would be an evident inequality of arms of the Government before the opposition party,” they reproached.

This institutional pulse between the Government and the opposition, always recurring in the electoral period in Spain, will continue until 28-M. The popular ones censor an electoralist use of the press conferences in Moncloa, while the Government defends the right to respond to criticism from the opposition and questions from journalists. Also in electoral period.

In total, the PP has filed four complaints against the spokesperson before the Electoral Board. After the first press conference since the decree calling for the municipal and autonomous communities was signed, on April 4, the first claim was already estimated and the minister was warned.

The second occasion took place on April 28, when it was estimated with new warning. For the third time, the claim brought with it the first file and also added a warning to Teresa Ribera, third vice president of the Government. Now, Rodríguez adds a fourth reproach and a second file.

If both files prosper, the spokesperson for the Executive could face the payment of up to 6,000 euros. According to the Electoral Law, “any infraction of the established obligatory norms that does not constitute a crime, will be sanctioned by the Competent Electoral Board. The fine will be from 300 to 3,000 euros in the case of authorities or civil servants.” 

<p