Both the PP and the PSOE have said that they will 'exclude names from the election lists' of people under investigation for corruption. Both parties, according to El País, have happily thrown accusations of corruption at each other - and, of course, elsewhere when it suits - but 'maintain at the same time a moral ambiguity' towards their own.
An editor at El País writes this to a correspondent of mine: 'It is my personal belief that the non-functioning of Spain'’s justice system is the country'’s greatest problem and is at the root of almost all evil as it propagates a sense of impunity among wrongdoers and a cynical if-you-can'’t-beat-‘em-join-‘em attitude among the rest of society'.”
Defending some fellow-party candidates, the Secretary for Municipal Politics Antonio Hernando says, 'there's no corruption when nobody puts his hand into the till to transfer the money to his pocket'.
The General Secretary of the PP is Dolores de Cospedal. She says that the party has zero tolerance for corruption, but that 'there are some people under investigation, but then the accusations are found to be null and void'.
The PP is currently suffering investigations of massive corruption in Valencia and Madrid in something called the 'Caso Gürtel'.
So it seems that, by the time some of those better-known cases of corruption in high places are finally sentenced, the players can reasonably expect to be dead.
Here's an interesting map of political corruption (just the heavier stuff) in Spain.
In similar news, the two parties have agreed not to disallow 'transfugas' or 'turncoats' from their lists.
Monday 21 February 2011
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