Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo arrived at a restaurant in Cedeira (A Coruña) on Friday. Moncho Fuentes (EFE)
Time is running out for Alberto Núñez Feijóo to officially publish the compensation he receives from the PP for his position as leader of the formation. The cabinet of the PP President stated at the end of June that Feijóo would only have to account to the House of Lords for the remuneration he received as party leader after he had left the post of senator in the Permanent Deputation, a seat he eventually lost on 28 June 2007. left July. However, Feijóo has yet to submit his net worth and income statement to the Senate after leaving office as an autonomous senator, the update of which is mandatory at least 30 calendar days after his departure from office. According to his criteria, he therefore has until August 27 to fulfill this obligation. But Feijóo’s remuneration could be known in advance, since next week, Monday or Wednesday, he will collect his credentials as a new member of Congress and the rules of the House of Commons also require the registration of this statement: the MPs who have already They have her Collected badges and made it. “He will present everything that his deputy status requires in a timely manner,” says the management.
The thesis defended by Feijóo’s team in June was rejected by the President of the Senate, the Socialist Ander Gil, with a different criterion and on the basis of the literalness of Article 26 of the Senate Rules and 160 of the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime (LOREG). According to this article of the Senate Rules, Senators are “obligated” to write a statement of activity and another on property. The same provision states in Section 2: “Both declarations must be made at the commencement of their term of office as a condition of attainment of senatorial status and also within thirty calendar days of loss.” said condition. or the change in circumstances originally stated”.
Feijóo’s economic situation changed last April when he was appointed party leader because – as he himself admitted in an interview with Cadena SER – he receives remuneration from the PP for his position. Those amounts were not reflected in the statement he made to the House of Lords in May 2022 when he took office as Senator, nor were they added afterwards. To justify that the change had not taken place, the PP used the first meaning of Article 26.2 of the regulation – “within thirty calendar days after the loss of this condition” – but both Parliamentary sources and the President of the Senate understand this as as soon as this change is made, the update must take effect and not wait until the end of the mandate.
With that in mind, Ander Gil sent a formal request to Feijóo, asking him to update the statement before July 4th. “Senators are required to complete both the activity declarations and the property and income declarations, not only at the beginning and at the end of their mandate, but also if there is a change in the circumstances originally declared, which is contemplated by this.” with thirty calendar days’ notice from the date of such change,” Gil reasoned. But the opposition leader, based on his own arguments, disobeyed. “The President of the PP will update his income and wealth data according to the regulated deadlines he has as Senator of the Permanent Representation of the Chamber,” popular leadership sources said. “It will follow its update in a timely manner,” they now add. According to their own interpretation, they would have until August 27th for said update. There are senators who, between June and July, have already registered their statements after their dismissal, including from the PP.
Meanwhile, on June 28, after Feijóo had insisted for days that he refused to make public how much money he received from the party, the PP leadership came off the hook and informed the media that the popular President received 39,260 euros gross, subject to taxes, last year. However, that amount does not represent the People’s Leader’s total salary — classified by the leadership as a “representation expense” — as he only served as the formation’s supreme authority from April to December in 2022. “The data we gave is similar to what the party’s previous president had received,” Feijóo said at the time. His predecessor Pablo Casado declared in Congress in 2019 that he had received a net salary of 47,720 euros from the PP.
What affects most is what happens closer. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything.
subscribe to
The document that Casado registered in the House of Commons four years ago is the one Feijóo, who was elected on 23 J., has to present to Congress. According to regulations outlined on Congress’ website, MPs must submit “their duly completed declaration of activity” when collecting their mandates. And Rule 20 of the Rules of Procedure of the House of Commons states that “the elected MP acquires the full status of MP by jointly fulfilling the following requirements: submitting to the General Secretariat the credentials issued by the relevant electoral administration authority; complete their declaration of activity in accordance with the provisions of the Organic Law of the Universal Electoral Regime and, at the first plenary session they attend, take the promise or oath to abide by the Constitution.” Rule 17 adds that “Deputies are obliged to to make a declaration of their property in accordance with the provisions of the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime.”
Parliamentary sources explain that the declaration of activities “is necessary for the full acquisition of MP status”, but the declaration of assets “is not necessary for these purposes”. However, since it is also “mandatory”, it is usually handed in on the same day that elected MPs collect their mandates. It remains to be seen what Feijóo will do.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits