MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s Ciudadanos party on Friday said it was ready to put forward its own motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy over a graft case involving members of his People’s Party.

“If Rajoy does not call snap elections we would be ready to put forward (our own) motion of no confidence in order to hold elections,” Jose Manuel Villegas a senior member of the pro-business Ciudadanos said during a press conference.

The opposition Socialists have put forward their own motion of no confidence. </s> MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s socialist leader Pedro Sanchez on Friday said it would call a snap election if his party was to win the no confidence vote it put forward against Prime Minister Mariano over a graft case involving members of his People’s Party.

“Our motion of confidence has been put forward to form a socialist government and recover political and institutional normality. But we would then call snap elections as soon as possible,” Sanchez told a news conference. </s> MADRID, May 25 (Reuters) - Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he would not call a snap election after two parties threatened to bring down the government over a graft trial involving members of his party in which a judge questioned the credibility of his testimony.

Rajoy said Spain needed political stability in order to keep on track the strong economic recovery it is currently enjoying and he would serve his four-year term.

"The no-confidence motion goes against the political stability that our country needs and it goes against the economic recovery. It is bad for Spain," Rajoy told a news conference. (Reporting by Julien Toyer Editing by Jesus Aguado) </s> MADRID, May 25 (Reuters) - Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he would not call a snap election after two parties threatened to bring down the government over a graft trial involving members of his party in which a judge questioned the credibility of his testimony.

Rajoy said Spain needed political stability in order to keep on track the strong economic recovery it is currently enjoying and he would serve his four-year term.

“The no-confidence motion goes against the political stability that our country needs and it goes against the economic recovery. It is bad for Spain,” Rajoy told a news conference. (Reporting by Julien Toyer Editing by Jesus Aguado) </s> The Spanish government is in deep trouble and it could fall, leading the way for a multi-party coalition. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy iss threatened with no-confidence motions and demands for a snap election over a graft trial involving members of his party in which a judge cast doubt on his testimony. The Socialists are preparing to call a no-confidence vote which could lead to the fall of his government as it doesn't have an overall majority. A snap election is being called for by Ciudadanos, the new centre-right party which is rapidly seen as a party of government. 



Rajoy and his government are against the ropes and I can't see how they will survive unless he performs the biggest "Great Escape" in Spanish politics. The crux of the problem for the Partido Popular is corruption. The image of the party has been tainted by corruption cases up and down the country. Rajoy himself has been caught up in the Gurtel scandal which relates to the use of a slush fund by the conservatives in the 1990s and early 2000s to illegally finance campaigns. He has always denied wrongdoing. Rajoy has said that he will not be calling a snap election because he would probably lose as a result of the new strength of Ciudadanos. A coalition of the socialists and Ciudadanos is a distinct possibility. 



Rajoy will be fighting for his political life over the coming weeks and months but the clock is ticking. His government is in serious danger of falling. </s> Spain's socialist party on Friday said it would put forward a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy over a graft case involving members of his People's Party.

MADRID: Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was threatened with two separate no-confidence motions on Friday, after a graft trial involving members of his party in which a judge questioned the credibility of his testimony.

The opposition Socialists presented their motion to parliament, while the centre-right Ciudadanos - Rajoy's former ally - issued him with an ultimatum.

"If Rajoy does not call snap elections we would be ready to put forward (our own) motion of no confidence in order to hold elections," Jose Manuel Villegas, a senior member of Ciudadanos, told a news conference.

Twenty-nine people related to Rajoy's People's Party (PP), including a former treasurer and other senior members, were convicted on Thursday of offences including falsifying accounts, influence-peddling and tax crimes. They were sentenced to a combined 351 years behind bars.

The case, which relates to the use of a slush fund by the Conservatives in the 1990s and early 2000s to illegally finance campaigns, has plagued Rajoy since he came to power in 2011. He has always denied wrongdoing.

Rajoy became the first sitting prime minister in Spain to give evidence in a trial when he was called as a witness in the case last year, prompting calls for him to resign.

In his ruling, the judge said there was evidence the party ran a slush fund for many years and that the credibility of Rajoy's testimony denying it "should be questioned".

"(His) testimony does not appear as plausible enough to refute the strong evidence showing the existence of a slush fund in the party," the judge said.

Rajoy was already under fire for his handling of the secession crisis in Catalonia, with many voters turning away from the PP to Ciudadanos.

Hours before the court ruling was made public on Thursday, Rajoy suggested he would run for a third term in an election due by mid-2020, but political observers said he was now likely to face an internal challenge in his party.

Ciudadanos helped the PP pass this year's budget bill as recently as Wednesday.

"It is clear that yesterday's ruling marks a tipping point in our relationship with the governing party," Villegas told COPE radio on Friday.

"The ruling is serious enough for us to sit down, reflect and take decisions." </s> UNDER FIRE: Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (inset) is under pressure after the Gurtel ruling

THE centrist Ciudadanos party has demanded that Mariano Rajoy’s government hold national elections early as the Prime Minister faced the introduction of a no confidence motion today.

The call comes as the main opposition party, the left-leaning Partido Socialista (PSOE), said they had presented the motion in the Spanish parliament following a meeting this morning. Senior party members were discussing how to go forward in the wake of the Gurtel corruption scandal.

The probe saw Rajoy’s ruling conservative Partido Popular (PP) slapped with a more than €245,000 fine after Spain’s High Court ruled it profited from contract kickbacks between 1999 and 2006.

Rajoy said in a television interview yesterday that any case of corruption is “regrettable” and that understanding and dialogue would be needed going forward.

He said today the motion was bad for all Spaniards and that it would harm the country's economy, with it coming soon after the passage of the national budget.

"The motion is for the sole interest of Mr Sanchez and his place in Spanish politics. It is for him to become the leader of the govenment at the price of anyone and anything," he said.

Albert Rivera, the leader of Ciudadanos, wrote on Twitter his party supported a “democratic solution” which would come either from elections or a motion of censure (no confidence).

“We need a clean and strong government. The future is decided by the Spaniards,” he said.

Pedro Sanchez, the leader of the PSOE, said earlier today he had given the order for his party to lodge the motion in the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of parliament.

The PSOE’s version of the motion puts forward Sanchez as a candidate for the premiership, which would see him unseat Rajoy if it is passed by a majority of lawmakers.

The party reportedly has the support of the far-left Podemos party, who issued their own call for a motion of no confidence earlier this week.

Ciudadanos, who currently backs the minority PP government on key votes in Parliament, have ruled out supporting the PSOE's motion. Their backing is a deciding factor in tipping the balance in favour of it passing.

The party's General Secretary Jose Manuel Villegas said his party had instead demanded Roajoy call early elections.

Under the Spanish Constitution’s Article 115 this would be impossible if a motion of no confidence were active. </s> MADRID, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday called a snap national election for April 28, after losing a key budget vote.

“Between doing nothing and continuing without the budget and calling on Spaniards to have their say, I choose the second. Spain needs to keep advancing, progressing with tolerance, respect, moderation and common sense,” Sanchez said in a televised address to the nation following a cabinet meeting.

“I have proposed to dissolve parliament and call elections for April 28th.” </s> Spain's biggest opposition party, the Socialists (PSOE), filed a no-confidence motion on Friday against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy after his conservative Popular Party was found guilty of benefiting from illegal funds in a mega graft trial.

To succeed, the no confidence vote will need the support of an absolute majority of 176 lawmakers, a difficult task as opposition parties are deeply divided.

While far-left party Podemos has already called for a no-confidence vote, the motion will need the unlikely support of centrist party Ciudadanos, Rajoy's allies in parliament, or that of several tiny regional parties, including Catalan separatists.

The PSOE holds 85 seats in Congress, so they will have to garner a further 91 votes for the no-confidence vote to be successful.

Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias, whose central party and regional branches control 71 seats in Congress, confirmed that he would support Sánchez if he tabled a motion of no-confidence.

"No advanced democracy can put up with a party of criminals in government", he said.

Which means the PSOE needs another 20 seats to effectively oust Rajoy.

Ciudadanos, led by Albert Rivera, has 32 seats but has supported the PP in government, helping to pass a difficult budget, but has been outspoken on corruption and the need to clean up politics.

But Ciudadanos, which has seen a meteoric rise in the polls, has little common ground with the PSOE and even less with Podemos, and all would have to agree a replacement candidate for PM, which is likely to be Pedro Sanchez.

If Ciudadanos refuse to support the no confidence vote then the PSOE must rely on the regional nationalists, the Basque PNV , which has five seats, and the more troublesome Catalan nationalist parties—Republican Catalan Left (Esquerra, ERC) and Convergencia—who together hold 17 seats.

In fact, Ciudadanos was quick to dismiss support for a no confidence motion and instead demanded that new elections be called.

Jose Manuel Villegas, the secretary general of Ciudadanos in a press conference on Friday said that he believed Sanchez would “rely on the support of those who want to break up Spain” in his quest to reach Moncloa and that Ciudadanos would not support that.

Instead he said that the motion of no confidence should be withdrawn and the PSOE should join the push for new elections.

New elections will favour Ciudadanos, after the PP has seen its popularity plummet even before the latest graft ruling.

According to a Metroscopia survey conducted for El Pais in early May, Ciudadanos would be the clear winner in new national elections, with 29.1% of the vote.

Second place would go to Unidos Podemos, an alliance between Podemos and other leftist parties, with 19.8 percent.

Support for the PP would slip to 19.5 percent, while the PSOE would come in last with 19 percent of the vote.
The Citizens party gives an ultimatum to Rajoy to call snap elections or otherwise they'll support the motion of no confidence.