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Ciudadanos leader gives conditions for supporting Rajoy as Spanish PM

Xinhua, August 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

The leader of the center right party Ciudadanos on Tuesday gave conditions to vote in favor of Peoples' Party leader Mariano Rajoy being invested as the prime minister.

Albert Rivera told a press conference in the Spanish Congress that he gave six conditions which he said were the "key" to his party voting in favor of Rajoy.

Rivera insisted Rajoy put a date on an investiture debate, but said his party would be willing to negotiate voting to support him if Rajoy was willing to accept the six conditions: electoral reform, a ban on anyone previously found guilty of corruption holding public office, a limit on the time the prime minister can hold office, an end to government pardons for politicians and the elimination of special legal protection for politicians.

Rivera's final condition was the creation of a commission to investigate the so-called 'Barcenas case' into the fraudulent funding of Rajoy's party; something the acting PM may find difficult to accept.

Rivera did, however, drop his previous condition that Rajoy step down as leader of the PP and thus allow a different PP member to become the prime minister.

Although Rajoy's PP won the June 26 election with 137 votes, the acting Prime Minister has so far been unable to win the support from other parties to allow him to obtain the 176 votes he needs to win an investiture debate in the 350 seat Congress.

Although Rivera had said he would be prepared to abstain in vote, other parties such as the Socialists (PSOE) and Podemos insist they will vote against Rajoy's candidacy.

Although the 32 votes that Ciudadanos could provide would still leave Rajoy short of a majority, many believe that if they supported Rajoy it would force the PSOE into abstaining and thus allow Rajoy to form a minority government and end the stalemate which has existed in Spain since the Dec. 20 election.

However, unless Rajoy accepts Rivera's conditions or is able to force a change of heart from the PSOE, Spain could be headed for a third election in less than a year. Endit