How 2013 brought a constant state of crisis to the Popular Party
Mired in corruption, and with the police recently having searched its party HQ, the government is unable to shake off controversy two years into its mandate
Mariano Rajoy has been in office for two years, and it should have been a time of celebration. The risk premium has narrowed reassuringly, and the economy appears to be on the cusp of improving — as such the prime minister could be forgiven for looking for some light at the end of the tunnel. But it wasn't to be so. Several members of the ruling Popular Party (PP) have expressed their concern in private that the government is in a permanent state of scandal.
In the corridors of Congress and the Senate there is an air of weariness. In a single week, former Prime Minister José María Aznar made headlines for his dealings with savings bank Caja Madrid; the regional premier of the Madrid region, Ignacio González, saw his wife targeted in a tax-fraud and money-laundering investigation; and the offices of the ruling party in the capital were searched by police for the first time in history. As if this was not enough, former Madrid premier and PP heavyweight Esperanza Aguirre testified in court in the Gürtel kickbacks-for-contracts inquiry, which has been plaguing the government for several years now.
Last Friday also saw the government take up arms against the electricity sector over a suspected case of price manipulation, while the Cabinet passed a restrictive reform to the Abortion Law that will be unparalleled in Western Europe. That reform is likely to be the final nail in the coffin for the public perception of Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, who was once the PP's leading light in the eyes of voters but is now one of its most-maligned members.
The PP's black week
- Search of the party's headquarters: Architect Gonzalo Urquijo appeared at the High Court last Monday wearing a motorcycle helmet to hide his identity. He denied having received undeclared payments for remodeling work carried out on the PP's headquarters in Madrid, but Judge Pablo Ruz nonetheless ordered the building on Génova street to be searched. On the same day Cristóbal Páez, who succeeded Luis Bárcenas as party treasurer, denied knowledge of an alleged parallel accounting system: "Bárcenas controlled the money," he said.
- Gürtel: Former Madrid premier Esperanza Aguirre said in a written statement to the High Court that her relationship with former head of the regional sports department, Alberto López Viejo, was minimal. "He did not have my complete trust." López stands accused of awarding contracts to the Gürtel ring, for which he was paid a commission of 10 percent.
- The Estepona penthouse. Serving Madrid premier Ignacio González came out in defense of his wife, Lourdes Cavero, after a Málaga court targeted her in a tax-fraud and money-laundering case surrounding a luxury property the couple rent in Estepona, on the Costa del Sol. Judge Mariana Peregrina recused herself in favor of the High Court, which has the power to name González as a suspect.
- Political pressure on banks: Messages exchanged between the families of former Prime Minister José María Aznar and ex-chairman of savings bank Caja Madrid, Miguel Blesa, emerged last week, in which Aznar's son reproached the banker for not pushing through an art sale on behalf of the Aznars, as had been requested. As part of the deal, Aznar's son was to receive a 54-million-euro loan with the artworks serving as collateral. In an SMS text message, Aznar Jr reminded Blesa that his father had handed him the bank presidency. "Maybe you are too young to understand, but there are rules. This is not my personal farm," Blesa replied.
PP secretary general María Dolores de Cospedal has also been the focus of internal criticism for her front-and-center approach to the Luis Bárcenas affair. The former PP treasurer is in preventive custody over allegations that he ran a parallel accounting system at the party's headquarters, which included alleged cash bonus payments to top officials such as the prime minister and De Cospedal. Judge Pablo Ruz, who is heading up the investigation, ordered the police raid on the PP's offices because he said the documents he requested had not been provided. De Cospedal has now turned her guns against the judge and the police for their actions.
"Angering a respected High Court judge such as Ruz is not the most intelligent thing one can do," said one of De Cospedal's confidants. However, Rajoy has gone to great lengths to erase Bárcenas from his public and private agenda, passing on the management of the crisis — and the political cost — to De Cospedal.
Two computers used by Bárcenas were handed over to the judge as ordered in August, but with the hard drives either missing or reformatted, "according to the usual protocol for use and recycling of computer material," the PP said at the time.
On the near horizon are the European elections next May, which will serve as a barometer for the PP's popularity. There is no chief candidate at the moment, although Environment Minister Miguel Arias Cañete is the frontrunner. However, as the PP has embarked on a drive to appeal to its most conservative support base, Jaime Mayor Oreja, a devout Catholic and anti-abortionist currently serving as a eurodeputy, is another possibility.
The government has not organized any events to mark its second anniversary, apart from a private dinner at La Moncloa prime-ministerial palace for ministers and their partners, where the atmosphere was convivial, according to an attendee.
Another front Rajoy has been unable to control is the Madrid PP. Despite a slight thawing in relations with regional premier González, the concern is that neither he nor the mayor, Ana Botella — Aznar's spouse — will be able to maintain the party's absolute majority in the region. At the bloc's Christmas dinner last Wednesday there was considerably less warmth than at La Moncloa, sources said, and Rajoy offered no words of support for González. The pervading feeling is that change is in the air.
The PP has come to accept that, despite all the bad press, time will prove key. "Rajoy says it a question of waiting and he has a point. One piece of news wipes out the previous one and in a few days everybody's forgotten about it. Who is still talking about the text messages to Bárcenas that caused such an outcry in July? All Rajoy needs to do is wait, and he does that better than anybody. Nothing will come of any of this," said one PP official.
