The PSOE files Carmen Calvo for not supporting the Trans Law and could sanction her with 600 euros

MADRID, 23 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The PSOE has opened a disciplinary file against former vice president Carmen Calvo for breaking the discipline of the Socialist Group in Congress and abstaining from the overall vote on the Trans Law, as confirmed to Europa Press by socialist sources. The investigation can last weeks and the deputy is exposed to a fine of 600 euros, which is the maximum provided for in the internal regulations.

The leadership of the Socialist Group headed by Patxi López will designate an instructor to study the case, assessing the political context, the importance of the vote and her attitude, and during the course of the file you will also listen to the explanations of the deputy herself. In the end she will propose the sanction, which according to the precedents could be the maximum of 600 euros, the last word will be the direction of the parliamentary group.

Carmen Calvo is a deputy of special relevance in the Socialist Group as she was vice president of the Government and president of the party, and currently chairs the Equality Commission of Congress.

This Thursday after the vote on the Trans Law in Congress, Carmen Calvo stated that she "always" assumes the consequences of her actions, when asked if she feared consequences for having skipped the discipline set by her party, which voted for favor of the law

Thus, he recognized that it was a difficult day and that he had decided on the "most complex option." "It's what you have to do on complex days," she said. He explained the meaning of his vote, stating that he "agrees that there is a law, but not this law" and that he does not agree "with the 'no' of the rights that are never there to protect these groups." .

The law promoted by the Ministry of Equality went ahead after a process of almost three months in the Lower House that has been accompanied by controversy from the beginning due to the lack of agreement between the government partners, PSOE and Unidas Podemos. A part of socialism, led by Calvo, was critical of the text, especially with gender self-determination and its consequences on women's rights.

The PSOE presented several amendments to the law, although focused on limiting the self-determination of minors and to toughen the process of reversion of trans people, but in committee it did not obtain the favorable vote of any group for its initiatives and in the end it decided not to maintain these proposals for the debate of the law in plenary. Therefore the law has been approved in the terms that the minister of the branch, Irene Montero, intended.

Calvo is therefore exposed to a sanction similar to the one received by the PSOE deputy Odón Elorza, who was also fined 600 euros for voting in a different direction from that set by the party. In his case, the former mayor of San Sebastián, refused to support the election of Enrique Arnaldo, one of the two candidates proposed by the PP to be a magistrate of the Constitutional Court, within the framework of the agreement that the 'populares' sealed with the Government to renew this institution.

In his case, the vote was secret and therefore no group could take disciplinary measures, but it was Elorza himself who announced that before casting his telematic vote he had communicated his position to the leadership of the parliamentary group, which at that time was headed by Héctor Gómez .

Elorza argued that he had decided to vote with "responsibility" and "in defense of the prestige and dignity of the institutions of the Constitutional Court and Congress." That vote took place in November 2021 but the sanction was not officially communicated to him until four months later, in March of the following year.

This was not the first time that Elorza was sanctioned because in 2016 he was also fined 600 euros for voting 'no' to the investiture of Mariano Rajoy in 2016. 14 of his colleagues did the same by ignoring the decision of the party leadership of abstain to facilitate the election of the then leader of the PP and put an end to the institutional blockade that had forced a repeat of the general elections.