Gobierno español aguanta tormenta
Genevieve Signoret & Patrick Signoret
Aunque el escándalo de corrupción centrado en el ex tesorero del Partido Popular (actualmente en gobierno) ha erosionado el capital político del primer ministro Mariano Rajoy, hasta el momento no parece que Rajoy vaya a tener que dimitir o que se vaya a convocar a elecciones adelantadas. El mandato del gobierno actual vence a finales de 2015 (CNN Expansión, Reuters, FT).
El extesorero del Partido Popular español (PP) Luis Bárcenas declaró [el lunes 15 de julio] al juez Pablo Ruz que en marzo de 2010 pagó 25,000 euros a Mariano Rajoy, actual presidente del Gobierno de España y que entonces era el líder de la oposición.
Así lo informaron fuentes de la acusación en la investigación en el caso Bárcenas por presunta corrupción consistente en una doble contabilidad del PP y sobresueldos irregulares a destacados miembros de dicha formación política, entre ellos la secretaria general del partido, María Dolores de Cospedal, quien supuestamente habría cobrado otros 25,000 euros.
[…] Rajoy salió hoy al paso de las revelaciones de Bárcenas y las peticiones de la oposición para que dimita asegurando que el Estado de Derecho “no se somete al chantaje” y que cumplirá su mandato, que expira en diciembre de 2015.
If real pressure for change is unlikely to come from the streets of Spain, it is even less likely to come from inside the PP, a formidable political machine that has been quick to close ranks around its troubled leader. Like political groups everywhere, Mr Rajoy’s party has no shortage of old rivals and ambitious pretenders. But most of the top officials either appear deeply implicated in the Bárcenas scandal themselves (such as Dolores de Cospedal, the party leader) or lack standing among party grandees (such as Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, the deputy prime minister).
[…] What other mechanism is there to bring down Mr Rajoy? The opposition Socialists have called for his resignation but they do not even have the strength to force a debate in parliament on the scandal. Spain’s criminal justice system, meanwhile, is not only notorious for the slow speed at which it moves, but also for being heavily politicised.
[…] There is no doubt that the past 10 days of leaks and revelations have left Mr Rajoy and his government drained of the little political capital that it had left. In Mr Bárcenas, the Spanish leader faces a dangerous and implacable enemy who seems determined to draw him ever deeper into the scandal. But Mr Rajoy also knows that, at least for the moment, the opposition is weak and divided, his party is strong and united and the justice system slow and cumbersome.
There is no reason why he cannot struggle on to the next election.
Under Spain’s political system, the PP could choose a new leader that parliament would elect to run the government, without having to call early elections in which the party would almost certainly lose its majority.