SPAIN’S Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has dismissed allegations of ‘widespread corruption’ levied against his PSOE Socialist party after a former minister and close ally was convicted this week.
Speaking in Congress on Wednesday, Sanchez also ruled out calling an early general election which has to be held no later than August 2027.
The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced ex-Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos- who helped mastermind Sanchez’s rise to power in 2018- to 24 years in jail.
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He was convicted of pocketing lucrative kickbacks for health equipment contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking during a debate on corruption allegations, Sanchez said he understood public concern after weeks of judicial developments, including the Abalos conviction and a probe into former socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
“We are not infallible,” said Sanchez. “But that is why we clean up what needs to be cleaned up.”
He insisted the PSOE had not been illegally financed and argued that alleged wrongdoing was limited to individuals.
“They want to create a feeling of generalized corruption that does not exist,” he said, accusing the conservative Partido Popular(PP) and the the far-right Vox party of trying to confuse the public.
“There must be no room for impunity for corrupt people, whoever they are,” he said.
On Zapatero, who is under investigation in the Plus Ultra airline bailout case, Sanchez said there was no favourable treatment in the €53 million rescue.
He also expressed his personal trust in the former prime minister.
Sanchez also defended his wife, Begona Gomez, and brother, David Sanchez, both facing separate court proceedings that he said are based on ‘unfounded accusations’ and a campaign of harassment.
The PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo renewed calls for Sanchez to dissolve parliament and call elections, while the Catalunya pro-independence Junts party urged him to step aside and allow somebody else to lead the government.
Feijoo accused Sanchez of being at the centre of corruption scandals, applying double standards and becoming ‘a disgrace’” for Spain.
“What would you be saying if this situation was occurring under another government?” he asked.
“Sooner or later, I’ll give the Spanish people back a decent government.”
Sanchez rejected the accusations.
“How can we not continue?” he asked in turn, stating that his administration was in a better position to fight corruption, compared to opposition parties.
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