Sanchez govt in Spain hit by corruption allegations

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has named four people to take over senior responsibilities in his Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, or PSOE, after one of its top officials stepped down after being linked to an ongoing corruption inquiry.

Santos Cerdan, who was the third-most powerful person in the party and a close personal associate of Sanchez, left his post as PSOE secretary after a Supreme Court judge summoned him to testify over claims in a police report that he spoke about taking payment in return for giving contracts for public works.

Cerdan has always maintained his innocence, and said in response to the latest development: "We are not perfect, but we are uncompromising when it comes to corruption".

There are fears the allegations could bring down the minority government, and some Sanchez supporters are saying he should call a snap election.

Sanchez has rejected the idea and said the new team will fill in for Cerdan until early next month, when a party congress will take place and a new permanent replacement can be found. He has also announced an external audit of the party's finances to try to clear the air.

On Monday evening, Sanchez met Labor Minister Yolanda Diaz from the Sumar party, a junior coalition partner, who had previously said his efforts to smooth over the issue were insufficient, and that a reset of the government was needed.

But Sumar's public support has slipped recently, so triggering an election would not necessarily be to its advantage, and could let in a partnership of the conservative People's Party, or PP, and the far-right Vox.

Ironically, PP's last term in office was brought to an end in 2018 when the government was brought down by a financial scandal, starting PSOE's time in charge.

With a variety of local and national elections due to take place in 2027, some Sanchez loyalists have suggested it might be better for the party's long-term fortunes to face an election now, and lose, rather than for Sanchez to see out his full term, and possibly suffer a more damaging defeat at the end.

"I don't see how he can turn things around in the next two years," an unnamed PSOE official told the Politico website. "If we have to lose our hold on the (national) government, we might as well do it now and use the time before the local and regional elections to show there's been a clean break with all of this."

julian@mail.chinadailyuk.com