Tag: Mariano Rajoy

MADRID: Spain's Mariano Rajoy, who is to stand down as head of the conservative Popular Party after being ousted as prime minister last week, said Wednesday (Jun 6) he plans to quit politics altogether. "My intention is to definitely abandon politics, there are other things to do in life than dedicate oneself to politics," he said during an interview with radio Cadena Cope. Advertisement "I had an enormously intense political life and I think it makes no sense to stay longer here," the 63-year-old said, adding he would not attend an emergency party congress in July to elect his successor. Rajoy, one of Europe's longest-serving prime ministers, was ousted on Friday after he lost a no-confidence motion in parliament filed by the Socialists over a graft case that tainted his Popular Party (PP). He was replaced by Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez. Since taking office in 2011, Rajoy has survived a bailout for Spain's banking sector, an election that left him with a minority government and a separatist push in the wealthy northeastern region of Catalonia. On Tuesday, he announced he was quitting as head of the PP. Advertisement Among those tipped to replace Rajoy as party chief is former defence minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal, currently the PP's deputy head. Others include former deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria and the president of the northwestern region of Galicia, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, who is close to the ousted prime minister.

In a historic day, the seemingly immovable survivor of the Spanish political right was ousted on Friday from office by the Socialist Party’s (PSOE) no-confidence motion, the first successful one in 40 years of democracy. Coming on the back of last week’s judgment in the Gürtel case – which saw the Partido Popular (PP) and one of its former treasurers sentenced in Spain’s largest ever probe into political corruption – the prospects of success for Pedro Sánchez’s tabled motion looked unlikely up until only two days ago. Now the reinvented Sánchez – despite not being an MP and with only 84 seats behind him – heads an interim government for a possible two years. This at once presents a potential car crash scenario, as well as an immense opportunity for the left. It may be tempting, after similarly catastrophic throws of the centre-left dice, to argue that Sánchez offers more of the same – a slick, centrist career politician making a final lunge at power while presiding over a moribund 20th-century social-democratic party. For a start, it overlooks the past year in Spanish politics. Although Sánchez has had an afflicted relationship with the more radical new left Podemos party, the question of whether they could ever work together in national institutions in some way is now being put to the test. Much of the week’s political focus in Europe has been centred on Italy, which itself saw a new coalition government finally sworn in on Friday. Sánchez is also coming in at a time of exhaustion and political apathy – altogether different from the political moment in 2015-16, when a left coalition government last appeared on the cards. But it is undoubtedly an opening of some kind.

The PP then struck back, saying the alternative would be for opposition Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez to head a "Frankenstein government" supported by anti-establishment and regional politicians that would be doomed to failure. Spanish media dissected the case, from an unprecedented raid at PP's national headquarters, to the destruction of hard drives there, and even published a barrage of private messages between Rajoy and Barcenas. Last week's National Court ruling looks at only one portion of the case, the kickbacks-for-contracts scheme in place between 1999 and 2005, when Rajoy himself was moving up the party ladder. All major parties have called for Rajoy to step down, but the prime minister has fended off pressure saying that political instability is bad for the country and for the economies in Spain and the European Union. In Spain, a no-confidence motion is designed not just to oust the standing prime minister but to choose a replacement. Ciudadanos, a rising star in the center-right of Spanish politics, is refusing to support him and is seeking a new general election instead that could be won by their leader, Albert Rivera, according to recent polls. Rivera would have strong chances of placing first in an election, positioning him to become prime minister but without winning a majority to form a government on its own. "But it's definitely the beginning of the end of Rajoy and his Popular Party." But a minority Socialist Cabinet would be a "Frankenstein government," as the Popular Party has characterized it, with hard to please nationalists and anti-austerity lawmakers. A third possibility, an early resignation by Rajoy himself to avoid the embarrassment of being ousted, was rejected Wednesday by the prime minister's office in a statement.

The lower house of the Spanish parliament is debating whether to end Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s close to eight years in power and supplant him with the leader of the Socialist opposition. (Francisco Seco/Associated Press) MADRID — The rhetoric in Spain’s political crisis, in which Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy faces a no-confidence vote amid a corruption scandal engulfing his party, is turning ugly. The PP then struck back, saying the alternative would be for opposition Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez to head a “Frankenstein government” supported by anti-establishment and regional politicians that would be doomed to failure. While Rajoy’s chances of political survival have been dealt a severe blow, the veteran politician is fighting back. Spanish media dissected the case, from an unprecedented raid at PP’s national headquarters, to the destruction of hard drives there, and even published a barrage of private messages between Rajoy and Barcenas. All major parties have called for Rajoy to step down, but the prime minister has fended off pressure saying that political instability is bad for the country and for the economies in Spain and the European Union. Backed by his party and the far-left anti-establishment Podemos, Sanchez was due to speak Thursday in a bid to convince Catalan and Basque nationalist lawmakers to support his government plan and achieve at least 176 of the 350 votes needed to supplant Rajoy. The key is in the hands of the Basque Nationalist Party, or PNV, which has yet to decide how it will vote in Friday’s motion. “But it’s definitely the beginning of the end of Rajoy and his Popular Party.” If the Basques support the Socialists motion and their leader wins, Sanchez would take over from Rajoy immediately and possibly be sworn in as early as next Monday. But a minority Socialist Cabinet would be a “Frankenstein government,” as the Popular Party has characterized it, with hard to please nationalists and anti-austerity lawmakers.