“Most politicians are decent people.” <br /><br />So says Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, trying to reassure Spain’s parliament and public on Thursday – the day after his health minister became the first government casualty in a series of cases of alleged corruption.<br /><br />He also presented measures aimed at cleaning up politics.<br /><br />“I understand the irritation and mistrust of the Spanish people and I share it,” Rajoy said. <br /><br />“Everyone knows that corrupt individuals have emerged in my party – people who had earned my trust and that of the party. I have asked forgiveness for that.”<br /><br />Health Minister Ana Mato stepped down on Wednesday after a judge said she had “personally profited” from crimes allegedly committed by her ex-husband, linked to a kickbacks-for-contracts scandal involving Rajoy’s conservative Popular Party. <br /><br />Protesting her innocence in a resignation statement, Mato stressed that she had not been charged with any crime.<br /><br />One of the draft laws presented by Rajoy covers financing of political parties and the other aims to improve transparency and prevention of conflict of interests in government roles. <br /><br />Neither is new; they have been stalled in parliament for months as the Popular Party sought consensus with other parties and to incorporate amendments before they go to a vote.<br /><br />Support has been ebbing from the PP and Spain’s main opposition Socialists, with newcomer, the anti-establishment Podemos party racing ahead in opinion polls.
