Spanish socialists considering motion of no-confidence against Rajoy

The Spanish Socialists (PSOE) are considering tabling a motion of no-confidence against the Spanish president, Mariano Rajoy, the Catalan News Agency (ACN) has learnt. The move comes hours after a Spanish judge sentenced a former People’s Party (PP) treasurer to more than 30 years in jail for a corruption plot involving illegal party financing. Party leaders, including current president Mariano Rajoy, were allegedly regularly paid with black money.

In fact, the PP was fined 250,000 euros for benefiting from the fraud. Meanwhile, former Spanish health minister Ana Mato will have to pay back 28,000 euros for using money from the ‘Gürtel case’ for personal trips and events for her family.

Although some media outlets already see the motion of no-confidence as a done deal, PSOE sources suggest that the issue will be debated during a party meeting on Friday. To succeed, a motion of no-confidence would need the support of both the anti-austerity Podemos and liberal Cs parties; or of Podemos and the Basque nationalists (PNV) and Catalan pro-independence groups (ERC and PDeCAT).

The PSOE leader, Pedro Sánchez, has always rejected support of the  pro-independence forces. At the same time, the PNV has just helped pass the PP budget, so it is yet to be seen whether they would be willing to oust the Rajoy government now. Even if not successful, the PSOE sources suggest that a motion of no-confidence could help to reveal whether or not Cs wants to "regenerate" Spanish politics.