PP calls for Chaves' head over Andalusia scandals

The opposition Popular Party (PP) on Tuesday called for Third Deputy Prime Minister Manuel Chaves to appear "urgently" in Congress to explain the scandals currently engulfing the regional government of Andalusia, which he headed before moving to the central administration.

The latest political noise stems from the alleged misuse of a fund set up with public money to aid companies in crisis to lay off workers. It has now emerged that one of Chaves' sons used his father's political clout to court commissions as an intermediary between companies seeking contracts and Andalusian public institutions. Adding to the PSOE's woes, Andalusia's interior and justice chief, Luis Pizarro, tendered his resignation earlier this week and was swiftly followed by the resignations of three more ranking members of the department.

The PP has demanded Chaves' resignation. Its congressional spokesperson, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, said that if Chaves gave explanations "the matter would become so intolerable and unbearable that he would have to resign."

On Wednesday the judge investigating the fraudulent use of the fund ordered the regional administration to hand over minutes of meetings from the last 10 years, a request it had staunchly refused.

The government of José Antonio Griñán subsequently agreed to forward them.