Former Minister José Luis Ábalos has formally submitted his resignation as a deputy in the Congress of Deputies. This decision comes after the Supreme Court rejected his final appeal, and he admitted he could not maintain the seat given his current legal situation.
Ábalos's resignation allows the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party to recover a seat in the Lower House, readjusting the parliamentary majorities.
Ábalos was registered in the Mixed Group since the PSOE expelled him from its ranks. However, he had already lost his rights as a deputy since his preventive imprisonment, as the Congress Bureau applied Article 21.2 of the Regulations.
This article stipulates that deputies are suspended from their parliamentary rights and duties when there is a firm indictment and they are in preventive detention. Once the seat is filled, the majorities will return to the situation prior to his expulsion, facilitating the approval of initiatives in the Congress.
