Spanish PM Sanchez Announces Party Reshuffle Amid Graft Probe
'My biggest mistake has been to trust who I shouldn't have trusted, but my determination against corruption is total, wherever it might come from,' Sanchez said in an address in Madrid on Saturday to the party's federal committee, a key decision-making body.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Spain ruling party bars members from hiring sex workers
Hit by a corruption scandal involving alleged kickbacks and sex workers, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's party shook up its top leadership Saturday and banned members from paying for sex. Sanchez, 53, is facing the biggest crisis of his seven years in power. That was heightened on Monday by the detention of a former top official in his Socialist party, Santos Cerdan, in an investigation involving allegations of corruption and hiring sex workers. In a bid to right the ship, the Socialist party announced that "soliciting, accepting or obtaining sexual acts in exchange for money" was now banned for party members, punishable by "the maximum sanction, expulsion from the party". "If we believe a woman's body is not for sale, our party cannot allow behaviour contrary to that," Sanchez said. "These are difficult times for everyone, without a doubt," he told party leaders at a meeting in Madrid, once again apologising for trusting those caught up in the growing scandal. But he also reiterated his refusal to step down. "The captain doesn't look the other way when seas get rough. He stays to steer the ship through the storm," he said. The party also announced a leadership shake-up, replacing Cerdan as its number three official with 44-year-old lawyer Rebeca Torro. The meeting started behind schedule after another close Sanchez ally, Francisco Salazar, who had been due to take a top leadership post, resigned. Online news site said Salazar had been accused of "inappropriate behaviour" by several women who had formerly reported to him in the party. Former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos has also been implicated in the investigation into kickbacks for public contracts. The conservative opposition People's Party (PP) held a meeting of its own, looking to capitalise on the Socialists' stumbles. "We're the only alternative to this state of decline," said PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, calling his party the answer to Spain's divisions and "political fatigue". "Spaniards deserve a government that doesn't lie to them, that doesn't rob them but serves them," he said. al/jhb/jj
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Spain ruling party bars members from hiring sex workers
Hit by a corruption scandal involving alleged kickbacks and sex workers, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's party shook up its top leadership Saturday and banned members from paying for sex. Sanchez, 53, is facing the biggest crisis of his seven years in power. That was heightened on Monday by the detention of a former top official in his Socialist party, Santos Cerdan, in an investigation involving allegations of corruption and hiring sex workers. In a bid to right the ship, the Socialist party announced that "soliciting, accepting or obtaining sexual acts in exchange for money" was now banned for party members, punishable by "the maximum sanction, expulsion from the party". "If we believe a woman's body is not for sale, our party cannot allow behaviour contrary to that," Sanchez said. "These are difficult times for everyone, without a doubt," he told party leaders at a meeting in Madrid, once again apologising for trusting those caught up in the growing scandal. But he also reiterated his refusal to step down. "The captain doesn't look the other way when seas get rough. He stays to steer the ship through the storm," he said. The party also announced a leadership shake-up, replacing Cerdan as its number three official with 44-year-old lawyer Rebeca Torro. The meeting started behind schedule after another close Sanchez ally, Francisco Salazar, who had been due to take a top leadership post, resigned. Online news site said Salazar had been accused of "inappropriate behaviour" by several women who had formerly reported to him in the party. Former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos has also been implicated in the investigation into kickbacks for public contracts. The conservative opposition People's Party (PP) held a meeting of its own, looking to capitalise on the Socialists' stumbles. "We're the only alternative to this state of decline," said PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, calling his party the answer to Spain's divisions and "political fatigue". "Spaniards deserve a government that doesn't lie to them, that doesn't rob them but serves them," he said. al/jhb/jj
Bloomberg
16 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Spanish PM Sanchez Announces Party Reshuffle Amid Graft Probe
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez vowed to 'defeat corruption in and out' as he announced a reshuffle within Socialist Party ranks — even as an ally was forced to resign over sexual harassment allegations. 'My biggest mistake has been to trust who I shouldn't have trusted, but my determination against corruption is total, wherever it might come from,' Sanchez said in an address in Madrid on Saturday to the party's federal committee, a key decision-making body.
