The former German Chancellor retired from his post as party chairman in 2000. He did so after serious allegations were confirmed in the press in increasing detail that he and his conservative party CDU/CSU had been receiving large amounts of illegal money. The contributions came primarily from sources in German business and industry.
Since he was not in office when the scandal peaked, his exit may appear to have been less onerous than had he been obliged to step down as head of the German Government. Still, Mr Kohl was honorary chairman of his party and was a highly respected politician not only in Germany, but in Europe as a whole. He did the right thing and retired, making way for Angela Merkel to succeed him as party chairman.
Considering the evident facts of your situation, Mr Rajoy, it seems you are in a very similar tight spot and should take Mr. Kohl as your example. Indeed, the alleged facts in your case date exactly from the period when Mr. Kohl was struggling to keep the news hounds at bay. But either you would not, at the time, believe the German stories about the recipient of the Prince of Asturias prize of 1996, or you may simply have thought it would be easier for you to get away with it in the lax atmosphere of Spanish politics.
Well, the Spanish public is not so forgiving any more, as you may perhaps have noticed. Your conservative party's former treasurer, Mr. Barçenas, cannot be left alone carrying the burden of this case. He received the money from the industrialists, duly noted the amounts and how they were subsequently doled out in monthly sums to yourself and other members of the Aznar government of the Partido Popular.
Political corruption may be widespread in Spain, and not only in Spain, but that does not make it okay. Mr. Rajoy, it is time for you to go.
4 comments:
Olav, I just wrote a long comment to compensate for my absence as a critical reader of your several last blogs, but then the electricity fell out and I had to start all over again. Let me therefore stick to my observation that reading your blog I was thinking: imagine that all politicians would follow Kohl´s example, how many politicians would be left. For sure, I and probably all of us will not miss them. The irony is that they will miss us who voted them into office and facilitated their behavior. May I suggest you to focus in the next blog on the way corruption has been institutionalized in Brussels among politicians! that would place the corruption you refer to in the right perspective.
Ben, I can only say: Touché!
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