Former Spanish PM Zapatero investigated in influence peddling case
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Former Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (third from left) is a key ally of Spain’s Premier Pedro Sanchez (centre), and investigations into him piles more pressure on Mr Sanchez.
PHOTO: AFP
MADRID - Former Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is being investigated for alleged influence peddling and related crimes, the country’s High Court said on May 19.
Mr Zapatero’s office in Madrid was being searched alongside three other premises, the court said in a statement, adding that the former premier had been summoned to testify on June 2.
Mr Zapatero, a key ally of Spain’s current Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, has already denied any wrongdoing before a Lower House committee.
The case puts more pressure on Mr Sanchez, who is already dogged by a corruption investigation into alleged kickbacks involving key members of his inner circle, as well as probes involving his wife and his brother.
Police officers pack cases into their car outside the office of former Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, in Madrid on May 19. He is being investigated for alleged influence peddling and related crimes, and has been summoned to testify on June 2.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Mr Sanchez’s office did not reply to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Mr Zapatero led Spain from 2004 to 2011, winning two absolute parliamentary majorities with landmark policies such as withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq and legalising same-sex marriage. He is the first Spanish prime minister – current or former – to be formally investigated by the judiciary since the transition to democracy.
In a statement, the Socialist Party said that Mr Zapatero was a pioneer of progressive policies that now underpin Spanish society and that the political right and far right had never forgiven him for this.
The investigation is part of the so-called Plus Ultra case, linked the €53 million (S$78.9 million) state rescue in 2021 of the domestic airline Plus Ultra through state holding company SEPI during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The High Court is examining whether the bailout was properly approved.
The aid has drawn political fire as critics said it was not clear that Plus Ultra was a strategically significant asset and that it had weak finances and links to Venezuelan shareholders.
The conservative opposition People’s Party has repeatedly criticised Mr Zapatero’s business ties in Venezuela in the years after he left the government.
The People’s Party on May 19 described Mr Zapatero as Mr Sanchez’s “muse” and said the two allies were linked by corruption allegations.
“Both have used their families to enrich themselves and both have denigrated the institution they represent or have represented,” the right-wing party said in a statement. REUTERS
