PP seeks show of unity after Aznar orders Bárcenas case suit

Everyone in the Popular Party (PP) knows that former Prime Minister José María Aznar is a free agent. Certainly, nobody in the ruling conservative group expects him to follow party discipline like other leaders do.

And yet Aznar's reaction to the Bárcenas case, announcing a lawsuit against EL PAÍS for an article that suggested corrupt practices under his administration (1996-2004), has caused some unrest in PP circles.

Bárcenas, the former PP treasurer who faces charges in the Gürtel kickbacks-for-contracts case, had a bank account with up to 22 million euros in Switzerland, part of which he regularized under a government tax amnesty.

A former PP deputy also stated that high-ranking members of the party regularly received envelopes with large amounts of cash along with their normal salaries, which served as undeclared bonuses.

Some people think Bárcenas may be behind this claim, as a reminder that if he is allowed to go down, he can take others down with him.

To think Aznar might have had anything to do with this is to not know the man at all" González Pons

In order to prevent a proliferation of personal lawsuits such as Aznar's, current party leader Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has set a common course of action in a bid to demonstrate party unity at a time of great unrest in PP circles.

PP sources said leaders are considering legal action, but not against one specific media outlet like Aznar.

The former prime minister, who cultivated his international profile through support for former US President George W. Bush and the Iraq War, was abroad when the news broke, said sources in the know. Aznar was described as "concerned" about the situation in Spain and "unhappy" about the consequences of this latest scandal in the PP.

Other party leaders have expressed similar dismay at the suggestions of corrupt practices. "There is currently no corruption; the corruption that we are learning about now dates back to another era, and it is emerging because institutions work, regardless of which party is in power," said Esteban González Pons, a high-ranking PP official.

González Pons also came out in Aznar's defense. "To think that Aznar might have had anything to do with unlawful or unrespectable practices is to not know the man at all," he said in an interview with the Cope radio station earlier this week. "Not only is he one of the most honest politicians I know, but he is also ruthless with all types of irregularities."

PP Secretary General María Dolores de Cospedal has announced an internal audit of the party's accounts, both "current ones and past ones."

Another PP leader, José Ignacio Echániz, has publicly asked Bárcenas to stop "threatening" his party.