Battle rages for control of Spain's right-wing Popular Party
Spain's right-wing Popular Party is tearing itself apart in an internal battle pitting a rising regional star against a lacklustre national leadership, with the warring factions trading barbs over spying and corruption.
The crisis within Spain's main opposition party erupted on Thursday when
the head of the Madrid region, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, publicly accused the
national leadership of resorting to dirty tricks to get rid of her.
"It is very painful when the leaders of your own party, rather than backing
you, are the ones trying to destroy you," retorted the telegenic 43-year-old.
She was referring to allegations published in El Mundo and El Confidencial
saying the party leadership had paid a private investigator to find out whether her brother pocketed nearly €300,000 in commission for face mask contracts awarded by her regional government.
The story was widely believed to have been leaked by Diaz Ayuso's entourage.
"It won't ever be possible to prove I helped my brother in any way," she said on COPE radio where she and party leader Pablo Casado laid out their
grievances - separately - on Friday.
READ ALSO: Why is Spain’s right-wing PP accusing their own leader in Madrid of corruption?
Earlier, Casado told COPE he had been asking her for months for clarification on the matter, but had received no answer.
"The commission was €283,000, which is a sufficiently large
amount to make you think there has been some sort of influence peddling," he
argued.
'Lady Liberty', Casado's nemesis
Diaz Ayuso is currently Spain's most popular politician after capitalising on the widespread pandemic fatigue by allowing Madrid's bars and restaurants a level of freedom to operate not seen anywhere else in the country.
Dubbed "Lady Liberty" by Britain's Economist magazine, she almost won an
absolute majority in last May's regional elections - a rare feat within Spain's increasingly fragmented political landscape.
Casado, on the other hand, is haunted by the rise of the far-right Vox and
by the seemingly unshakable stability of Pedro Sánchez's left-wing coalition government, which only holds a minority in parliament.
It was his idea to call snap elections in Castilla y León last Sunday to increase the party's hold in a region where it has ruled for 35 years. But the plan backfired, leaving the party once again unable to govern alone.
READ ALSO: Why elections in little-known Castilla y León really matter for Spain’s future
And the party also had egg on its face after one of its deputies miscast his vote last month, allowing Sánchez's government to push through a controversial labour reform rejected by the right - with the measure passing thanks to that single vote.
"Ayuso's bombshell has gone off at Pablo Casado's weakest moment," Cristina
Monge, a political scientist from Zaragoza University, told AFP, describing the clash as "a fight to the death".
"It's one thing to have an internal dispute at a party congress. But this is a fight to the death in public, and that is what makes it especially vicious," she said.
Co-existence impossible
For now, the PP has opened a formal investigation into Díaz Ayuso for "making very serious, almost criminal, accusations against the Partido Popular's leader".
The alleged espionage has alarmed other senior party figures such as the Galician regional leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who said it would be "unheard
of and unforgivable" to have spied on a party colleague.
The idea that Díaz Ayuso could be a better bet than Casado in the next general elections - which are set to take place by early 2024 at the latest - has been on the table for months, and may well be settled once and for all in the coming weeks.
"Both can't survive, that would be impossible. The question is whether one
of them will survive, or whether it will be the end of both of them," said Monge.
"There are still many things that remain unclear, this is only the start of a crisis which will run for a very long time."
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The crisis within Spain's main opposition party erupted on Thursday when
the head of the Madrid region, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, publicly accused the
national leadership of resorting to dirty tricks to get rid of her.
"It is very painful when the leaders of your own party, rather than backing
you, are the ones trying to destroy you," retorted the telegenic 43-year-old.
She was referring to allegations published in El Mundo and El Confidencial
saying the party leadership had paid a private investigator to find out whether her brother pocketed nearly €300,000 in commission for face mask contracts awarded by her regional government.
The story was widely believed to have been leaked by Diaz Ayuso's entourage.
"It won't ever be possible to prove I helped my brother in any way," she said on COPE radio where she and party leader Pablo Casado laid out their
grievances - separately - on Friday.
READ ALSO: Why is Spain’s right-wing PP accusing their own leader in Madrid of corruption?
Earlier, Casado told COPE he had been asking her for months for clarification on the matter, but had received no answer.
"The commission was €283,000, which is a sufficiently large
amount to make you think there has been some sort of influence peddling," he
argued.
'Lady Liberty', Casado's nemesis
Diaz Ayuso is currently Spain's most popular politician after capitalising on the widespread pandemic fatigue by allowing Madrid's bars and restaurants a level of freedom to operate not seen anywhere else in the country.
Dubbed "Lady Liberty" by Britain's Economist magazine, she almost won an
absolute majority in last May's regional elections - a rare feat within Spain's increasingly fragmented political landscape.
Casado, on the other hand, is haunted by the rise of the far-right Vox and
by the seemingly unshakable stability of Pedro Sánchez's left-wing coalition government, which only holds a minority in parliament.
It was his idea to call snap elections in Castilla y León last Sunday to increase the party's hold in a region where it has ruled for 35 years. But the plan backfired, leaving the party once again unable to govern alone.
READ ALSO: Why elections in little-known Castilla y León really matter for Spain’s future
And the party also had egg on its face after one of its deputies miscast his vote last month, allowing Sánchez's government to push through a controversial labour reform rejected by the right - with the measure passing thanks to that single vote.
"Ayuso's bombshell has gone off at Pablo Casado's weakest moment," Cristina
Monge, a political scientist from Zaragoza University, told AFP, describing the clash as "a fight to the death".
"It's one thing to have an internal dispute at a party congress. But this is a fight to the death in public, and that is what makes it especially vicious," she said.
Co-existence impossible
For now, the PP has opened a formal investigation into Díaz Ayuso for "making very serious, almost criminal, accusations against the Partido Popular's leader".
The alleged espionage has alarmed other senior party figures such as the Galician regional leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who said it would be "unheard
of and unforgivable" to have spied on a party colleague.
The idea that Díaz Ayuso could be a better bet than Casado in the next general elections - which are set to take place by early 2024 at the latest - has been on the table for months, and may well be settled once and for all in the coming weeks.
"Both can't survive, that would be impossible. The question is whether one
of them will survive, or whether it will be the end of both of them," said Monge.
"There are still many things that remain unclear, this is only the start of a crisis which will run for a very long time."
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