Basque leader threatens to step down as PP crisis deepens

15 May 2008

SAN SEBASTIAN – María San Gil on Wednesday threatened to step down as the Popular Party’s leader in the Basque Country if party president Mariano Rajoy fails to rebuild her "trust" in his policies and strategy.

The ultimatum came two days after San Gil unexpectedly resigned from a PP committee meant to decide policy for the coming years ahead of a national convention next month in which Rajoy will seek re-election. A month later, the Basque wing of the PP will hold its own convention and it will be there, San Gil said, that she will decide whether to stay or go.

She said she felt "deceived" by Rajoy’s apparent shift in policy after losing the general election on 9 March, which, she suggested, is leading the PP to turn its back on its principles and values.

San Gil denied, however, that she is planning to run against Rajoy for the party presidency at the convention. Despite evidence of a deepening rupture in the party, so far no one has stepped forward to challenge the embattled leader.

[El Pais / G. Gastaminza / Expatica]