The right cleans up its ranks

“A personal sacrifice,” says Francisco Camps, on his resignation as President of the Valencia region, reports Spanish daily La Vanguardia. Camps is accused of corruption in Spain’s ongoing Gürtel corruption scandal. The investigative operation was given the name Gürtel in a cryptic reference to one of the principal suspects, Francisco Correa (Correa means belt in English, Gürtel in German). Correa is a businessman who cultivated links with officers of the right wing People's Party (PP), some of which have been forced to resign or have been suspended. Camps, who despite the accusations, won a massive victory in this May’s regional elections, decided to quit after a stand-off with the PP leadership. According to the Spanish daily, the resignation, and the decision to defend his innocence put an ends to speculation that he would plead guilty and pay a fine in order to avoid trial. A few months ahead of mooted elections this autumn, “the Partido Popular has finally paid its fair-share in the new market of exemplary behaviour,” the paper notes.