Thousands of people in Spain have taken to the streets in the capital Madrid to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.\n<\/p>\n
On Thursday, protesters staged anti-government rallies after Rajoy dismissed calls by opposition lawmakers to answer questions on a corruption scandal in parliament.\n<\/p>\n
On Sunday, head of the opposition Socialist party Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba called on Rajoy to resign after a media report accused him of receiving illicit cash payments when he was a minister in the late 1990s.\n<\/p>\n
On June 9, Spain\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s daily El Mundo<\/i> published excerpts from the ledger entries of a secret slush fund run by the governing People\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Party (PP), implicating Rajoy and other senior PP members in the corruption scandal.\n<\/p>\n
The document — purportedly handwritten by former PP treasurer and senator Luis Barcenas — showed the names of the Spanish prime minister and PP members as well as the amounts each had allegedly received.\n<\/p>\n
According to the report, the illegal payments to Rojoy included an amount of 42,000 euros (USD 53,705) in 1997, and two payments of 12,600 euros (USD 16,111) in 1998.\n<\/p>\n
The document was sent to the country\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s High Court on Monday, the Spanish daily said.\n<\/p>\n
Barcenas, who confirmed the authenticity of the ledgers last month, is currently being held in custody in connection with several corruption charges.\n<\/p>\n
In January, similar claims by the El Pais<\/i> , another Spanish newspaper, ignited protest rallies against the Spanish prime minister and drew calls from the opposition Socialist Party for Rajoy\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s resignation.\n<\/p>\n
However, Rajoy and the PP have repeatedly denied the allegations.\n<\/p>\n
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