Spain’s parliament agreed on Monday to hold a vote of confidence against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday after dozens of people linked to his center-right People’s Party (PP) were convicted on corruption charges.
Parliament agreed that the debate would take place on Thursday and Friday, although the opposition Socialists who proposed the vote may struggle to garner enough support in the fragmented legislature to unseat Rajoy.
A Socialist party spokeswoman said Monday National Congress Speaker Ana Pastor and Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez, who is bidding to replace Rajoy, have agreed to hold to the extraordinary sessions.
Opposition parties are taking advantage of Rajoy’s weakness after 29 people linked to the PP were convicted last Thursday of crimes including influence-peddling and falsifying accounts, in the culmination of a long-running corruption trial.
The PP has closed ranks behind Rajoy, who said on Friday he intended to serve out his four-year term and that the corruption convictions did not affect a single member of his government. The 63-year-old survived a no-confidence vote last June.
Ciudadanos (Citizens), a liberal party ahead in opinion surveys and the most likely to win a snap election, urged Rajoy on Monday to call an early poll.
But Sanchez has yet to enlist enough support to defeat Rajoy in the no-confidence vote. The pro-business Ciudadanos party is refusing to support Sanchez and is seeking a new general election.
Rajoy’s government is weak and tainted by the corruption convictions, Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera said in an interview with El Mundo newspaper.
“The only democratic and dignified way out is to give voice to the Spanish people so that they choose a new government and parliament,” he said.
Ciudadanos said on Saturday it would be willing to work with the Socialists to support a neutral candidate to oust Rajoy, whose minority government has been damaged by a crisis sparked by a Catalan independence vote.
However, it is not clear whether the Socialists and Ciudadanos will team up to topple the Rajoy government.
In their sentencing against the PP in the so-called Gurtel case, judges last week issued prison sentences totaling 351 years and a 245,000-euro fine (US$ 287,000) for the PP, which the ruling describes as a "profit-seeking participant" in the scheme.
The verdict also considered that a network involving companies and party officials was established to arrange travel and organize events for PP in exchange for public contracts.
In some of the most damaging parts of the 1,687-page ruling, the judges said that PP ran a slush fund at least until 2008 and questioned the credibility of Rajoy when he denied knowing that the scheme was in place during a court hearing where the prime minister testified as a witness.
The convictions immediately triggered turmoil for Rajoy, who is combating separatist defiance in Catalonia and has for years defended his party against dozens of corruption allegations.
Spain's leading El Pais newspaper opened its Friday editorial calling Rajoy's cabinet a "zombie government."
