Spain | Rajoy steps down as conservative party boss

Spain’s new Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (left)

Spain’s ousted prime minister Mariano Rajoy announced yesterday he will step down as leader of the country’s conservative Popular Party, just days after his government fell in a no-confidence vote prompted by a corruption scandal.

An emotional Rajoy, who has led the party for 15 years, told party members in Madrid that it was time to end his “journey” and hand over the leadership to someone else at a party congress later this year.

“It is the best for me and for the Popular Party, and I think for Spain as well,” the 63-year-old politician said.

Lawmakers voted to oust Rajoy as prime minister last Friday following a corruption scandal involving several former members of his party. He was replaced as prime minister by Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez.

Rajoy, who had served as prime minister since 2011, predicted the new government would only bring political instability to Spain, noting that Sanchez himself had never won an election.

“The country is being governed by someone systematically rejected by Spaniards when they have been asked their opinion through the ballot boxes,” he said.

Sanchez is expected to officially announce his full cabinet today but yesterday the Socialist Party revealed some of the new members, including constitutional lawyer Carmen Calvo and European Parliament ex-president Josep Borrell.

The choice of Borrell, a 71-year- old Catalan, was criticized by separatists in Catalonia and praised by pro-Spain lawmakers in the politically divided region. AP