Spanish prime minister refuses to resign over slush fund
PM and his ruling People's Party are under pressure over claims of collusion in scandal
Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy refused to resign yesterday over a corruption scandal rocking his government as it fights to rescue the euro zone's fourth-biggest economy from crisis.
He batted off calls from political opponents to step down over allegations that he received secret payments through his Popular Party when he was a minister in the late 1990s.
Pressure intensified on Rajoy, 58, when the man accused of organising the payments, the party's jailed former treasurer Luis Barcenas, yesterday went before a judge investigating the scandal following fresh allegations in the press.
"I will fulfil the mandate the Spanish people gave me," Rajoy said, vowing to "defend political stability" as he steers Spain out of a deep recession and fights to stabilise its public finances.
The premier has denied any wrongdoing in the growing controversy, which first erupted in January when a newspaper published copies of account ledgers purportedly showing irregular payments to top party members.
Further leaks of supposed party accounts later implicated Rajoy himself.