Spain’s PM Rajoy under growing threat over party graft case

MADRID: Spain´s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was threatened with no-confidence motions and demands for a snap election on Friday over a graft trial involving members of his party in which a judge cast doubt on his testimony. Rajoy said he would fight off a no-confidence vote and serve his four-year term, and ruled out calling an early election.

“This goes against the political stability that our country needs and it goes against the economic recovery. It is bad for Spain,” he told a news conference. The opposition Socialists presented their no-confidence motion to parliament while Rajoy´s former allies, Ciudadanos, issued him with an ultimatum: call an election or face their own second motion of no confidence.

It was not clear whether the two parties would team up to topple the conservative Rajoy´s minority government. To succeed, the two parties would need to agree on a joint candidate to replace him and on questions such as calling a snap election.They would also need the backing of leftist party Podemos. Spain´s borrowing costs climbed and stocks fell sharply.

Spanish 10-year government bond yields rose eight basis points to 1.47 percent, and were set for their biggest daily rise in over three months. Rajoy had already been under fire for his handling of the secession crisis in Catalonia, with many voters turning away from his People´s Party (PP) to the centre-right Ciudadanos. Twenty-nine people related to the PP, including a former treasurer and other senior members, were convicted on Thursday of offences including falsifying accounts, influence-peddling and tax crimes. They were sentenced to a combined 351 years behind bars.