Spain's Sanchez swerves ally's questions in parliament over graft case

MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declined on Wednesday to say whether his name could crop up in a corruption investigation that has engulfed the ruling Socialists and seriously weakened his minority governing coalition.

Sanchez spoke during a grilling in parliament over revelations in a police report that included recordings of one of his main confidants, Santos Cerdan, appearing to discuss kickbacks in exchange for awarding public works contracts. Cerdan has denied any wrongdoing.

Political analysts say that if Sanchez's name were to appear in the investigation, his tenure as Socialist leader and prime minister would be in jeopardy.

He did not respond to a question by Gabriel Rufian of the Catalan nationalist Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya party about whether he would swear that his name would not show up as the police pursue their inquest.

Instead he accused Rufian, whose party is not in government but has backed it in some votes, of jumping to conclusions and said again that the report provided no indication that the Socialists had received illegal financing.

"Our intolerance of corruption is absolute," Sanchez said.

The police report is the latest and most severe of a series of scandals that has left Sanchez having to fend off calls from opponents and even some allies for snap elections.

Sanchez has named a new temporary leadership of his party and promised an external audit of its accounts.

He has also been having meetings with parties that supported his 2023 swearing-in, with many demanding further concessions for their policies in exchange for their continued support.

But some allies are concerned the scandal will widen with more senior figures implicated.

Sanchez has also faced a public backlash for having granted an amnesty to former members of the Catalan independence movement and has upset business leaders by agreeing to reduce the working week to four days.

(Reporting by Charlie Devereux and Inti Landauro; additional reporting by Emma Pinedo; editing by Aislinn Laing and Mark Heinrich)