“I was mistaken in trusting the wrong person. I did not cover up a guilty person. He tricked me, but it was easy because I do not jump at condemning anyone,” Rajoy said during his appearance before the parliament on Thursday.
“Nothing related to this matter has prevented me, nor will it prevent me from governing,” the Spanish prime minister added.
On July 9, Spain’s daily El Mundo published excerpts from the ledger entries of a secret slush fund run by the Popular Party, implicating Rajoy and other senior party members in the corruption scandal.
According to the report, the illegal payments to Rajoy included an amount of 42,000 euros (USD 53,705) in 1997, and two payments of 12,600 euros (USD 16,111) in 1998.
Barcenas, who confirmed the authenticity of the ledgers in June, said that he had also handed Rajoy 25,000 euros (USD 33,000) in cash in 2010.
On July 21, a poll was published in El Mundo showing 89.1 percent of those questioned thought Rajoy should respond to the allegations.
There are speculations that the scandal could destabilize the government as it is struggling with a deep recession.
Battered by the global financial downturn, the Spanish economy collapsed into recession in the second half of 2008, destroying millions of jobs.
MAM/HSN
Source Article from http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/01/316649/rajoy-admits-error-in-trusting-barcenas/
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