Thursday, 24 May 2018

The Partido Popular in Deep Doodoo


The Audiencia Nacional has now published its sentencing for the Gürtel Inquiry. The leader of the group is Francisco Correa, who masterminded the network, and he has been handed down 51 years. The ex-treasurer for the PP, Luis Bárcenas, gets 33 years and must pay some 44 million euros in fines. His wife Rosalía Iglesias (significantly, as Barcenas has threatened to ‘reveal all’ if she were sent to prison), received 15 years jail. The Partido Popular ‘...as a legal entity, benefited financially from Gürtel’s corrupt practices. It has been sentenced to pay €245,492...’ (Says El País in English here). In all, 29 people, all PP members, received sentences varying from 51 years to (in one case) just five months (here).
President Mariano Rajoy brushed aside the issue – ‘The PP is much more than a few isolated cases of corruption’, he said.
Pablo Iglesias has already proposed a vote of confidence and says his Union Podemos would support Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) for president. Ciudadanos has yet to respond... 
My article 'The end of the Government within weeks' can be read here.  

Friday update: The Government will now Fall here

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