Spanish opposition calls on PM Rajoy to step down

Spain’s socialist opposition leader has called on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to step down as the growing corruption scandal threatens his reliability in tackling the ongoing economic crisis.

“Rajoy should give up his role as the head of government (because) he cannot tackle the very difficult situation confronting Spain,” Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told reporters on Sunday.

This is while a poll, released on Saturday, shows that public support for Rajoy and his ruling People’s Party (PP) has fallen to 23.9 percent which is the lowest since the 2011 election and down from 29.8 percent in the same poll last month.

Some 77 percent of the respondents said they disapproved of Rajoy as the head of the government, 85 percent said they had little or no faith in him and 80 percent said the PP leaders had to resign.

The center-left newspaper El Pais published on Thursday account ledgers showing donations being channeled into secret payments to Rajoy and other party leaders.

The newspaper claimed that the premier had received 25,200 euros a year between 1997 and 2008. It also said that the fund was collected mostly from construction firms, adding that such payments would be legal if they were fully declared to the taxman.

Rajoy on Saturday rejected the allegations, saying he would publish “statements of income, patrimony and any information necessary” to prove the claims are “false.”

The allegations have sparked anger among the Spanish people who have been asked to accept harsh austerity measures as the government was trying to prevent an international bailout.

Thousands of protesters gathered in different cities calling for the resignation of Rajoy following his denial of corruption allegations.