Rajoy defends take a position at the World Bank to a tax evader former minister of – Sputnik World

Spain

13:15 05/09/2016 (updated 13:21 05.09.2016) short URL

Saénz Santamaria said that was the Soria himself who has applied and which corresponded to a technical committee to assess their suitability for the position, so the vice president justifies that “if you have requested and is the first that has been in that relationship, there I name it “.

© Sputnik / Virginia Uzal

José Manuel Soria was Minister of Industry, Government of Mariano Rajoy from 2011 until April 2016, when he resigned after appearing on the “roles of Panama” as manager of a firm based in the tax haven of Jersey.

In addition to its participation in based associations in tax havens, the resignation of Soria wine favored by his insistence on denying the evidence and lying to the press in his public appearances after revelations.

The proposal appointment of Soria for the position of Executive director at the World Bank was announced last Friday by the Spanish government, a few minutes after the failed investiture of Rajoy.

Soria was proposed for the position by the evaluation Commission nominations International Financial Institutions, an agency under the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

However, the Government maintains that its proposal for the position, which must be voted on by the governors of the World Bank, is a technical and not political.

“If an official can not be official, what is this?” Rajoy, president of the caretaker government, was asked during an informal conversation with reporters on the matter on Sunday.

the Minister of Economy acting, Luis de Guindos, was expressed in a similar vein: “What is to be done is misses him Spain going government and can not return to public office???”

<. p> the general secretary of the Popular Party, Maria Dolores de Cospedal, went a step further and said about Soria weighs “no accusation of corruption”, so the proposed appointment is completely legal.

© AFP 2016 / Johannes Eisele

The issue of Soria, but has been staunchly defended by some of the highlights of the PP national representatives, it has also received criticism within the party.

Some of the most important representatives of the party at the regional level as Cristina Cifuentes, president of the Community of Madrid, or Nunez Feijoo, regional president of Galicia, called for those responsible to explain the reasons for the nomination.

All opposition parties, including citizens, who signed an anti-corruption pact with the Popular Party ahead of the investiture of Rajoy, have flatly rejected the proposal Soria for an executive position at the World Bank.