Ciudadanos gives PP six 'anti-corruption' conditions before agreeing to negotiate

Rajoy has said he 'should not decide on his own' whether to agree to Ciudadanos' leader Albert Rivera's terms, and intends to ask the rest of the right-wing PP to give their views.

Some of the measures proposed will 'include substantial reforms to the Constitution', the consequences of which 'would need to be studied carefully', Rajoy reveals.

Rivera (pictured) says he will only talk to the PP if it agrees for any member in public office to be immediately struck off if he or she is formally placed under investigation for corruption, and for an end to all official pardons or reprieves for those found guilty.

No more high-profile public figureheads, including politicians, judges or royalty, may be subject to diplomatic immunity, Rivera insists.

In practice, this 'diplomatic immunity' means any legal case brought against an individual who holds it goes straight to the Supreme Court, the highest contentious court in the land and the second-highest after the Constitutional Court, the latter of which exists entirely for the purpose of interpreting Spain's Magna Carta and applying it to related queries.

Former justice minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón once said 'diplomatic immunity' was generally a disadvantage to the holder, since the right to appeal through the court hierarchy was immediately lost.

But Rivera insists on this as one of his six terms for supporting Rajoy's government.

He also wants to see a reform of the electoral law, which is one of the aspects that will involve changing the Constitution.

At present, the D'Hondt doctrine – also used in the UK – applies, and gives extra weight to votes for much larger, more established parties, meaning for every one ballot paper cast in favour of, for example, the PP, a smaller outfit such as United Left, Podemos, Ciudadanos or the regional nationalist parties would need anything from tens to hundreds to match.

This has often skewed general election results unfairly in favour of the 'big two', the PP and the left-wing socialists or PSOE, since they can gain more seats in Parliament from fewer ballots and just 20% to 40% of the votes could be enough for an outright majority.

Rivera also insists Rajoy order a full investigation commission to be set up to launch an inquiry into the notorious Bárcenas case, in which 'underground' accounts held by the former PP treasurer, Luis Bárcenas, were alleged to reveal illegal financing of the party through cash bribes received from firms in exchange for lucrative public works contracts.

This cash was logged, but off the record, not declared to the tax authorities, and used partly for funding PP electoral campaigns and partly shared between top-flight members.

Finally, Ciudadanos' boss wants a limit on how long a president or party can remain in office, rather like in the USA.

Ex-socialist president of Spain, Felipe González – a contemporary of Margaret Thatcher and who oversaw his country's entry into the EU – said Rivera's move has been 'the first act of responsibility since the elections'.

Rivera says his party has 'decided not to be part of the problem' and will work 'to the last millimetre' to break through the political impasse which has held Spain back since the December general elections, the first of two so far in less than a year.

He criticised PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez, who does not support Rajoy returning to office but has not proposed any alternative, given that his pact with Ciudadanos after the December elections was shot down in flames on all sides, and left-wing Podemos having turned on Sánchez during the in-house voting meaning the latter refuses to negotiate with the party again.

Finally, Rivera concluded that the six conditions were non-negotiable and he would not enter into talks with Rajoy unless he agreed to all of them in full, and unless he and Parliamentary president Ana Pastor (PP) gave a firm date and time for the in-house presidential election.