RENATA BRITO

 Barcelona, Spain.- Spain’s ousted prime minister Mariano Rajoy announced Tuesday he will step down as leader of the country’s conservative Popular Party, just days after his government fell in a noconfidence vote prompted by a corruption scandal.

An emotional Rajoy, who has led the party for 15 years, told party members in Madrid that it was time to end his “journey” and hand over the leadership to someone else at a party congress later this year.

“It is the best for me and for the Popular Party, and I think for Spain as well,” the 63-year-old politician said. Lawmakers voted to oust Rajoy as prime minister last Friday following a corruption scandal involving several former members of his party. He was replaced as prime minister by Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez </s> The former Catalan president Artur Mas has been banned from holding public office for two years after being found guilty of disobeying the Spanish constitutional court by holding a symbolic independence referendum three years ago.The Catalan high court convicted Mas, former vice-president Joana Ortega and former education minister Irene Rigau of defying the constitutional court by pressing ahead with the non-binding vote in November 2014.Mas was also fined €36,500 (£31,900). Ortega was banned from holding office for 21 months, Rigau for 18 months.(the guardian)…[+] </s> Spain's former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says he will step down as leader of the conservative People's Party after 14 years.

He was removed as prime minister last week when he lost a no-confidence vote in parliament after several former party officials were found guilty of corruption. </s> MADRID — Spain’s health minister has resigned over irregularities found in her master’s degree, the second cabinet member to be replaced in the just over 100 days since Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez came to power.

Carmen Monton announced her resignation late on Tuesday, a day after news website elDiario.es published irregularities in her 2011 degree on gender studies. Her final work, it later emerged, had chunks of text copied from websites and other works.

Sanchez, who became prime minister in June promising to root out corruption, lost a culture minister over a tax fine. His centre-left government has been marred by erratic policy-making, with several U-turns on cabinet decisions.

The resignation also puts pressure on opposition leader Pablo Casado, whose degree from the same public policy institute as Monton’s is under investigation. </s> The former prime minister of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, who was recently ousted from office by a motion of no confidence in parliament, announced Tuesday that he would step down as leader of the right-wing Popular Party.

Rajoy, who had been president of the conservative party since 2004, said he would shortly call a meeting with the party's board of directors in order to elect a successor. </s> Candidate Jordi Turull fell short of the absolute majority needed to become the next Catalan president due to a division within the three parties who seek independence for the north-eastern region.

An abstention from Thursday’s vote by the anti-capitalist CUP party left Mr Turull with 64 votes when he needed 68.

The regional parliament now has two months to pick a president and form a government before a new election is triggered. </s> Madrid, Sep 12 (IANS) Spanish Minister for Health, Social Services and Equality Carmen Monton on Tuesday resigned after allegations of plagiarism, media reports said.

According to the media reports, Monton had copied 19 of the 52 pages of the investigative work she produced as part of the Masters Degree she obtained from the Department of Law at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid) between 2010 and 2011.

These revelations followed a series of articles published in the online newspaper “Diario.es” revealing further irregularities in her Master including having her marks for part of the course changes from “not present” to “pass”, Xinhua reported.

Monton’s resignation came just hours after Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had publicly given her his backing, saying she was “doing a fine job and she is going to continue doing so”.

Monton is not the first politician to be forced to resign over allegations of irregularities of the qualifications they obtained from the University Rey Juan Carlos.

Cristina Cifuentes, of the right wing People’s Party (PP), was forced to resign as the President of the Madrid Autonomous Community in April this year after similar allegations.

Pablo Casado, who was recently elected leader of the PP, also faces accusations of irregularities in the Masters Degree which he also obtained from the same university. </s> MADRID: Spain’s former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Tuesday he would stand down as leader of the People’s Party (PP) after his party was ousted from government in a no-confidence vote from Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez.



“It’s best for me, best for the party and best for Spain,” Rajoy said to a standing ovation from party members.

The Socialists replaced the PP as the country’s leaders on Friday after parliament passed a no-confidence motion against Rajoy over a slew of corruption cases. </s> MADRID (AP) — Former Spanish prime minister and veteran politician Mariano Rajoy is vowing loyalty to his Popular Party in an emotional farewell, as the party's leadership transitions in a bid to retake power in Spain.

The 63-year-old lost a parliamentary vote last month to his socialist opponent, Pedro Sanchez, in the wake of graft convictions for members of his center-right party.

Now in the opposition, members of PP began Friday a two-day congress to choose between Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, 47, who was deputy prime minister until June, and Pablo Casado, 37, a lawyer and rising party figure.

The winner faces the challenges of reuniting a party split by a bitter leadership battle and rebuilding its reputation as new parties, both left and right, have ended the traditional bipartisan politics.
Artur Mas announces that he is resigning as president of the PDeCAT party.