Sánchez and the PSOE, on tenterhooks over Santos Cerdán

The statement today before the Supreme Court by former PSOE organizational secretary Santos Cerdán, who is being investigated for his key role in the alleged corruption scheme involving public works contracts, kicks off another difficult week for Pedro Sánchez's government.

The judge investigating the case has rejected the party's request to exclude sensitive emails seized by UCO agents during the search of the party's Madrid headquarters on Calle Ferraz. This exposes the party to the risk of evidence emerging that corroborates suspicions that the party may have benefited from payments arranged by Cerdán, his predecessor as Socialist Party Organization Secretary and former Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos, and their collaborator, Koldo García.

The resigned PSOE leader's proposal to have his statement broadcast live to protect the judicial process, as well as any sensitive information that may be revealed during his testimony, has also been ignored. If, after hearing his version of events, the judge decides to apply preventive measures to the suspects, leading to the deprivation of liberty of any of them, the party's crisis would take on greater dimensions.

This could frustrate Sánchez's attempt to minimize the damage to the party and the government by presenting the image of a swift accountability process. This could also deter critics by setting the federal committee to elect Cerdán's successor as head of the party's day-to-day operations for this Saturday.