Editorial: Politics

Firebrand former socialist leader, Alfonso Guerra, said over the weekend that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had more friends in prison than some of the most notorius criminals in the country. It was a cheap  shot but it will have registered with many people, especially as Mariano Rajoy has been fighting corruption allegations aimed at his party ever since he came to power. The latest scandal saw the arrest for a few hours of former Partido Popular Minister Rodrigo Rato, a former Spanish Minister for the Economy and Director General of the International Monetary Fund. Rato was arrested for alleged fraud, concealment of assets and money laundering. Yet again a member of the Partido Popular  (former)is facing fraud allegations. While Rajoy has said that he did not consider Spain to be a corrupt country I do not feel that his government hasn´t done enough to weed out alleged corruption at all levels. The corruption allegations have tarnished the image of the Partido Popular especially ahead of the local elections next months. If the Partido Popular loses a sizeable number of seats and votes Ithink you can safely say that it is thanks, in part, to the corruption scandals. Now, obviously the party has attempted to draw a line underneath these allegations but mud sticks. If Rajoy had ordered a root and branch drive against corruption I think he would have more support. But he has acted only when the scandal has broken and not before.