MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez unveiled a plan to root out corruption on Wednesday, seeking to maintain parliamentary support for his government after senior members of his governing Socialist Party were accused of embezzlement.
A Supreme Court judge last month ordered the pre-trial detention of Santos Cerdan, the former number three in the party, over allegations that he received and distributed kickbacks in exchange for awarding public works contracts.
Cerdan denies the allegations, which are part of a wider corruption inquiry that has led to opposition calls for a snap election that threaten to destabilise Sanchez’s government.
Sanchez, who is Secretary General of the Socialist Party, told parliament at an extraordinary session on the case that he had briefly considered quitting but decided to stay on, arguing that he himself had done no wrong.
“I am a clean politician, I will not throw in the towel,” he said.
Sanchez, who again rejected calls for an early election, announced 15 measures including preventing companies found guilty of bribery from winning government procurement contracts and working with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s anti-corruption team to crack down on graft.
Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the opposition People’s Party, urged Sanchez to assume responsibility for his party’s actions, report what he knew about the case and call elections.
“It’s not only the decent way out, but you have no choice,” Feijoo said.
The minority coalition led by the Socialists relies on a loose alliance of nationalist and far-left parties to pass legislation; they have so far said they do not plan to support the conservative People’s Party’s call for a no-confidence vote.
At his party’s congress last weekend, Sanchez removed several Cerdan allies from the leadership and announced reforms to the party machinery “to avoid excessive concentration of power” and provide anonymity for whistleblowers.
(Reporting by Emma Pinedo and Inti Landauro, editing by Aislinn Laing, Charlie Devereux, Philippa Fletcher)
