Urgent need for debate

On Saturday Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy emphatically denied he had received payments of undeclared money. The problem, however, is not his own personal honesty, but the evidence that for years such payments have been general among the leadership of the governing Popular Party (PP).

It is known that the system of payments managed by the treasurer Luis Bárcenas, in accordance with methods already habitual in the party, was ended precisely due to decisions made by the party’s secretary-general, María Dolores de Cospedal, and by Rajoy himself; so it is hard to understand the exceedingly defensive line they are taking on the news now emerging.

The prime minister’s promises of transparency, including the publication of his income and assets statements, are positive steps. But it cannot be said that such transparency has been a general norm in his party, after a number of episodes that began with its first treasurer, Rosendo Naseiro, and include the conviction of the regional premier, and former national minister, Jaume Matas, the jailing of Francisco Correa, and the charges facing numerous mayors and municipal councilors belonging to the PP.

The fundamental weakness of the party’s claims is the all-pervading shadow of Luis Bárcenas. It may be that the 22 million euros he has in a Swiss account have no connection with the party, but it cannot be doubted that he was evading taxes, and is now to benefit from the fiscal amnesty declared precisely by a government of his own party.

It is now the job of the courts to determine the origin of Bárcenas’ fortune, and the veracity of his accounting annotations. And it is the job of the PP’s leaders to explain how, for so many years, he enjoyed their entire confidence, even after his expulsion. It is not so easy to distance yourself from someone who for years sat in the office next door to your own, piling up money in a Swiss bank account.

The prime minister is mistaken if he believes the public will accept the explanation that the revelations of recent weeks are the result of a conspiracy against him. In the face of these revelations (not the least of them being the formal charges now made by the police against the present health minister) it is normal enough for the citizens to express their indignation when they are suffering the effects of a financial crisis, caused largely by the real estate bubble so intimately bound up with political corruption. What is now indispensable is a program of democratic regeneration, which will have to include the legal and moral rearmament of our institutions. It cannot be led alone by any of the existing political parties, since most of them are under a shadow of suspicion.

The politicians, who are already low in public esteem, cannot look the other way. To deny the reality of the accusations, and to ignore the protests in the street, is a course of behavior that can only lead to frustration.

After his statement on Saturday, Rajoy did not wish to answer any questions. A bad decision; and it will be worse if he refuses to hold a parliamentary debate on the Bárcenas and Gürtel corruption scandals, because there is an urgent need for one on this problem. It affects not only the PP, but other parties as well, as is apparent in recent news about the conduct of CiU in Catalonia and the PSOE in Andalusia. Merely closing ranks within the party cannot contribute to credibility.