Europe

Europe

Spanish interior minister resigns to run for PM

09 July 2011 01:26 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Spanish Deputy Prime-Minister and Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba announced Friday that he was resigning from the government to run for the country’s top job, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Rubalcaba, whose candidacy for the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) would be confirmed on Saturday for the upcoming general election, explained that he did not believe he could effectively combine the two roles.

"I am not going to be in condition to dedicate the government all of the effort that it demands, which in my opinion is everything," Rubalcaba said at the government’s weekly cabinet news conference.

"Tomorrow (Saturday) I will be the official candidate for the elections and correct thing is to announce this decision 24 hours beforehand," Rubalcaba added.

The 59-year-old minister told the press that he had informed Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of his decision "a long time ago."

"Tomorrow I will tell my party that I am totally committed to them and that I see that I should not continue in the government," he said.

However, Rubalcaba was either unable or unwilling to say when his successor would be named.

"It will be on Saturday, Sunday or in the first days of next week," he said, rejecting calls from the right-wing Popular Party to bring forward the date of the general election to this coming autumn.

"They are going to criticize me whatever I do," commented Rubalcaba on the subject, adding that Zapatero has confirmed on various occasions that the elections would be held as scheduled in March 2012.