MURCIA'S regional president will be ousted by the opposition through a no-confidence vote following his investigation in a corruption case.
The PP president Pedro Antonio Sánchez – not to be confused with former national PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez – appeared in court two weeks ago over the 'disappearance' of public funds provided to build an auditorium in Puerto Lumbreras in the region of Murcia when he was mayor.
Pedro A. Sánchez, as he is referred to in the media, insists the entire grant received from the government was used to build the theatre and concert hall, and says he will resign if he is 'formally charged'.
The PSOE and Podemos need centre-right Ciudadanos to agree to the no-confidence vote in order to make up the necessary majority for it to prosper.
Such a motion can only be presented where it has the backing of 15% of the regional Parliament – in this case, seven out Murcia's 45 MPs – and then a majority vote is needed in favour.
Ciudadanos had given the right-wing PP until this coming to replace Pedro A. Sánchez as its leader and regional president, after which it had pledged to back the motion.
The two left-wing parties, who each have one MP in the regional assembly to the PP's two, say they hope Ciudadanos will not veto the move and block its sole MP from voting against the president, giving a majority of three to two.
At national level, Ciudadanos' leader Albert Rivera has been very vocal on how any politician, irrespective of party colours, must resign as soon as they are investigated for corruption or any other criminal offence, and had some harsh words for Spain's leader Mariano Rajoy about his 'breaking the deal' between the PP and Ciudadanos which led to the latter backing him in the in-house presidential voting round.
As the PSOE has the largest representation in Murcia's regional Parliament, it would automatically take over the presidential role.
The party has proposed its spokesman, Rafael González Tovar (pictured), for the role.
