Rajoy denies corruption accusations, vows to stay in power

MADRID, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Thursday denied allegations that he and other leaders of his People's Party (PP) had received bribes from a slush fund and vowed to stay in power.

Speaking before the parliament, Rajoy said neither he nor members of his party had received illegal cash payments from former party Treasurer Luis Barcenas who is currently in preventive custody after he was found to hold 46 million euros (about 61 U.S. dollars) in Swiss bank accounts.

"I made the mistake of trusting a man who proved to be falsely innocent, but did not commit the crime of covering up for a guilty man. I made a mistake and maintained confidence in someone who didn't deserve it," Rajoy said.

"I say everything Mr. Barcenas says is false and it is the Judge's turn," he added.

Copies of Barcenas' account books and as well as an interview with the former Treasurer with the El Mundo newspaper have implicated the PP for having received illegal payments, along with Rajoy and high-ranking party officials, such as PP General Director, Maria Dolores de Cospedal.

Rajoy had, for months, refused to inform parliament about the scandal, which broke in late January.

The prime minister even equated questioning his integrity and that of his government to attacking Spain's economic stability.

"I will not allow the agenda of a country that has 6 million people out of work to be dictated by an accused man with no credit... Nobody other than the Congress and the Senate has the right to interfere in the politics of a country," he said.

Opposition leader Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, however, refused to accept Rajoy's declarations, insisting that Rajoy had been forced to speak in Congress by the threat of a censure motion, adding that Rajoy's reluctance to explain the accusations was the cause of any damage to the image of the country.

"You have behaved like the president of a party that has lived and won elections with a system of finance that has been illegal for 20 years," said the leader of the Socialist (PSOE) Party.