Urgent debate over scandal rejected

THE Balearic parliament has rejected a request by the socialist opposition, to force tourism chief Joan Flaquer to make an urgent appearance, to explain the “Rasputin affair.” Socialist deputy Antoni Diéguez accused the government of hiding from the opposition.
The scandal arose when managing director of Ibatur (the Balearic Tourism Promotion Institute) Juan Carlos Alia put the bill from the Rasputin, a Moscow strip club, on his expenses. He apologised, said it was a mistake, repaid the 360 euros and resigned. He refused to say who the other seven members of the party were. The delegation to Moscow included Flaquer and Balearic leader Jaume Matas, but Alia has always denied that they were in the group that went to the club. Dieguez has accused the government of ordering civil servants to go through the bills of the previous coalition government, as part of their defence over the Rasputin affair. Miquel Rossello, spokesman for the United Left-Greens, said that the fact that the money had been repaid did not put an end to the scandal.
Pere Sampol, spokesman of the Majorcan Socialist Party, said that it was “the biggest scandal in the Balearics since democracy was restored.” He said the refusal by the Partido Popular to let Flaquer appear before parliament was “an abuse of power.” Partido Popular spokesman Gaspar Oliver refused to discuss the accusations of the opposition party. He insisted that it was unnecessary to call an emergency meeting as Flaquer himself had offered to appear voluntarily to explain the case last July.