Spain: major corruption trials begin
Two court cases have begun against former high-ranking politicians from the country's two main parties: the ruling Socialist PSOE and the conservative Partido Popular (PP). The charges include embezzlement of public funds and covering up illegal party financing. The national media see the scandals less as isolated criminal cases and more as a flaw in the political system.
How did it come to this?
El País would like more from the parties than just a mudslinging contest:
“All the accusations the PP and PSOE could hurl at each other over these cases have already been made. ... There are no winners in the 'you're worse' blame game; both sides are left discredited. And as key parties in Spanish democracy, they drag the entire system down with them. … The significance of these cases lies not in the individuals who stand accused, nor their parties nor their leaders, but what they reveal about the quality of Spanish democracy, particularly regarding preventative measures against corruption. ... Citizens must ask themselves how it came to this. And why is there not even a discussion in the Congress of Deputies about how to prevent such abuses from happening again.”
Fish rots from the head down
El Periódico de Catalunya also holds the respective heads of government responsible:
“The full scope of these scandals remains to be seen. For the time being they are limited to ministers and their staff and are not impacting the prime ministers, Mariano Rajoy [PP, in office 2011–2017] in the 'Kitchen' scandal and Pedro Sánchez [PSOE, head of government since 2018] in the 'Koldo' scandal. In both cases the fundamental question is whether all of this could have happened without the knowledge of the men who were governing the country and controlling the secret services. … All the leaders in Spain go unpunished, as if what happens under their leadership were none of their concern. … And it is precisely this failure to take responsibility, whether directly or indirectly, that undermines democracy.”