The mayor of Madrid, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, analyzes in this interview with OKDIARIO the crisis that the Popular Party has experienced in recent weeks. In addition, he is emphatic in ensuring that there is no criminal responsibility on the part of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayusoin the contract linked to his brother.
Question.- Was Pablo Casado jealous of Isabel Díaz Ayuso?
Answer.- I wouldn’t say I was jealous. No, I sincerely say it. In the conversations I had with Pablo Casado I never understood that he had a jealousy problem with Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
Q.- But there has been a persecution by Genoa, how would you describe it?
R.- I think that from Genoa the president of the Community of Madrid was not treated as it should have been.
Q.- And do you believe that Teodoro García Egea has politically killed Casado?
R.- I think that’s a question that a lot of people agree on…
Q.- And you? A lot of people agree, but I’m asking Mr. Almeida…
R.- I think it is a question on which many people agree, that Teo has virtues, but that he also has defects, like all people, and that it is obvious that if the current national leadership has finally ended up the way it has, it is because from the General Secretariat there is also some responsibility in this regard.
Q.- If Pablo Casado had dismissed García Egea six months or a year ago, would he be out of the Presidency of the PP?
R.- It is very difficult to do political fiction exercises.
Q.- But, what do you think? You are very smart.
R.- You insist a lot that I’m very smart, but I have many limitations, many more than you think… (Laughter)
Q.- For example, having agreed to be a national spokesperson against my criteria, that I told him so…
R.- Against his judgment, indeed. That means I’m not as smart as you think. I think we have to turn the page on what has happened. Let us now talk about whether Pablo Casado did some things, whether Teo did other things, whether Teo is responsible or not… I think it is indisputable that mistakes have been made, that is an objective question, because if not, the situation we have in the Popular Party at the moment. But I also tell you one thing. I am sure that the readers of OKDIARIO want me to talk about their problems and to stop looking at the problems we have had, to stop looking inside the party and to look outside. I am sure that what they will ask is what the Popular Party is going to do from now on, not what we have done. Because there is no remedy for that and because one of the problems we have had is that we look too much at ourselves.
Q.- You, who are a State attorney and logically handle Criminal Law perfectly, among other things because you had to study how many? 300 topics?…
R.- 485, I have them recorded.
Q.- And about Criminal Law, how many?
R.- Of Criminal Law there were not too many… about 30 approximately.
Q.- Well, with your knowledge of Criminal Law, do you think that Ayuso is corrupt and that her brother has incurred in a case classified as corruption in the Penal Code?
R.- In my technical and legal opinion, there is no criminal charge whatsoever in relation to the contract that the Prosecutor’s Office is studying. It is a contract that has passed all the administrative controls, the Governing Council does not intervene in its approval, and the relationship is not between the Community of Madrid and the president’s brother, but between the company and the president’s brother. Therefore, I believe that from the criminal point of view there is no reproach in relation to that contract.
