Sanchez Aims to End Spanish Lawmakers' Constitutional Privileges

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he wants to reform the Spanish constitution to eliminate the special legal privileges enjoyed by lawmakers.

Sanchez said he’s aiming to win support in parliament to push through the measure using an accelerated process which could deliver the change within 60 days.

Under Spanish law, deputies and senators can only be prosecuted in higher courts, leading to bottlenecks for investigators trying to clean up a wave of corruption allegations. Sanchez, a socialist, ousted his center-right rival Mariano Rajoy in June promising to clean up the political system after a generation of graft that emerged following the collapse of a real estate bubble.

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.