Kat Mayhew (Reporter)
IT was a lonely meeting today to discuss Spain’s long-overdue transparency law.
At the last minute three-quarters of Spain’s political parties refused to turn up in protest over the Prime Minister’s current refusal to discuss claims that he took 35 illegal cash payments over a number of years.
The only parties attending the meeting were the ruling PP party and their allies the UPD.
While all parties are in agreement that a transparency law is vital (Spain is the only country in Europe not to have one), they were protesting at the hypocrisy of PM Mariano Rajoy refusing to discuss his own corruption accusations.
The main opposition parties (PSOE, IP y GM and CiU y PNV) have refused to attend any more meetings on the proposed law until Rajoy issues a statement addressing the allegations.
Speculation intensified on his future this weekend, when the former treasurer of the PP party Luis Barcenas claimed that the PP had been illegally financed for over 20 years.
In a letter written to the president of the constitutional commission, the PSOE insisted it was pointless to discuss a law whose principles contradict ‘the shadows of doubt surrounding the president of the country.’
The meeting is postponed until further notice, and likely until Rajoy finally speaks up.
A potential crucial meeting to hear his views on the matter is scheduled for tomorrow, but has not yet been confirmed.
The Olive Press has been following this story since January, when the now infamous ‘Barcenas files’ were leaked.
It has emerged that over €42m of cash was put into offshore accounts, while key government ministers, including Rajoy, frequently took envelopes full of cash on top of their salaries.
They will be waiting a long time.