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POLITICAL POSTS

Another case of nepotism dogs PP’s number two De Cospedal

After husband forced to turn down electric grid post, now brother pulls out of ministry foundation

Carlos E. Cué

Castilla-La Mancha regional premier María Dolores de Cospedal has once again found herself in a nepotism-related stew. The secretary general of the Popular Party (PP) is fending off new speculations that she tried to get her brother appointed to head a foundation run by the Foreign Ministry.

It was 11 days ago when the PP number two angered a lot of her colleagues, including her boss Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, after it was announced that her husband had been nominated for a seat on the board of the national electricity grid operator Red Eléctrica. Following a reported internal party crisis, Ignacio López del Hierro withdrew his nomination only hours afterward on March 15 when Rajoy made it clear that he was unhappy about the public outrage that his candidacy had caused.

Now, De Cospedal’s brother, Ricardo, similarly decided at the last minute not to take over the director’s job at the Carolina Foundation to avoid tarnishing his sister’s reputation further and causing more strain inside the PP.

Ricardo de Cospedal had taken part in at least 10 meetings held to discuss the transition of the new administrative officials at the Carolina Foundation before deciding late last Thursday not to take the job, say sources at the organization, which promotes cultural, scientific and educational incentives between Spain and Ibero-America.

His decision was made at almost the same time as it was announced that the husband of Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría will go ahead and take up a position with Telefónica. The telecoms giant is a private company but regulated by and closely aligned with the government, and is a favorite destination for former politicians seeking plush jobs.

The deputy prime minister says she will now refrain frominvolvement in all matters involving Teléfonica now that her husband Iván Rosa will be working for the company.

Sources at the prime minister’s La Moncloa office insist there are differences between the two cases. Rosa spent eight years working as a lawyer at the Finance Ministry while the Socialists were in power, they say, adding that Rajoy supports his career change.

Nevertheless, other sources suggest that Rajoy also gave his blessing for the appointments of De Cospedal’s brother and husband up until the controversy blew into the open.

But there appears to be deeper rifts behind this internal embroilment, which again have come to underscore the intense rivalries between María Dolores de Cospedal and Sáenz de Santamaría, the subject of private talk and gossip among PP and government officials.

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