(Allegedly) Fake Master's and Face Cream Force a Resignation

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Source: Mathilde Langevin on Unsplash

Former Spanish presidency favourite resigns after CCTV captures her shoplifting face cream 

Cristina Cifuentes had recently faced controversy over allegedly fake Master's degree 

The career of one of Spain’s most high-profile conservative politicians was in tatters Wednesday thanks to an alleged seven-year-old shoplifting case involving two 20 euro pots of anti-aging cream.

Madrid regional president Cristina Cifuentes, a leading light of Spain’s ruling centre right Partido Popular [PP] party, had once been tipped as a successor to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. 

But instead, Ms Cifuentes resigned after a three-minute video was published online of her emptying her handbag of items and handing them to a security guard in a grimy supermarket backroom.

The video, published by the OK Diario online site, shows Ms Cifuentes - at the time when she was deputy for the Madrid regional assembly - apparently finally paying for the anti-aging creams, worth 40 euros in total.

The security guard later reportedly said the case did not reach the courts because Ms Cifuentes had paid for the products.

The scandal comes hard on the heels of another major controversy involving Ms Cifuentes, well-known for taking a hard line over the corruption scandals that have repeatedly enveloped the PP, over an allegedly fraudulent Master’s degree.

Doubts have emerged over whether she had read her thesis or even attended classes, and a signature on one key document was said to have been forged, provoking a police enquiry. (see confusing words)

But Ms Cifuentes, who blamed the university for any errors, had refused to stand down - until, when combined with the fallout from the shoplifting video, the political pressure has seemingly proved too much.

Ms Cifuentes’ resignation is the latest crisis to hit Mr Rajoy’s troubled minority government, already struggling to get its budgets approved in parliament this year.

The government is also battling a seemingly unstoppable rise in popularity of rival centre-right party Ciudadanos, and is bogged down in a seemingly interminable standoff with the Catalan pro-independence movement.

Ms Cifuentes said she was leaving her position as president of the Madrid region, one of her party’s most valued political assets, with her head held high, and that she had been the victim of a mudslinging campaign.

“It’s probably part of the price of having a zero tolerance *policy towards corruption,” she insisted, before calling the shoplifting incident “an involuntary mistake.”

Ms Cifuentes claimed that she had been planning to resign on May 2, shortly before opposition parties were planning a vote of no confidence, in order to avoid a left-wing government taking control of the region.

Mr Rajoy, previously supportive of Ms Cifuentes, said decision to quit had his backing. “She did what she had to do,” he said.

Source: Independent 


*Confusing words

The words "policies" and "politics" are often confused.

A policy is a set of ideas or a plan that has been agreed by government, business, etc.
  • It is company policy to help staff progress in their careers
  • The government's policies on health were criticised in a recent report.

Vocabulary:

resign - 

 

 

stand down -

 

 

(get) bogged down - 


quit - 


Pronunciation:

Listen to the pronunciation of some of the words that appear in the text. In Word Reference you can listen to a range of accents including Scottish, Australian and Jamaican.
  • resign (compare with resignation)
  • controversy (compare with controversial)
  • allegedly (compare with alleged)
  • successor (compare with success and succeed)
  • guard
  • doubt
  • thesis
  • signature (compare with sign)
  • pressure 
  • crisis
  • parliament
Howjsay is quite good when you want to listen to words together (separate the words with ; )  For example:
  • face;faced;faces
  • publish;published;publishes
  • emerge;emerges;emerged
  • politics;politician;political;politically

Comments

Sir Joseph said…
Hi Graham,

Mrs. Cifuentes belongs to the shoplifting movement called “mango too”. Her anthem is: I don´t turn your nose up nothing. Her rule is I pinch everything I can. Her emblem is that if items go to your handbag, shouldn´t resist yourself.

The saddest of this story is that the wort of the pot of the anti-aging cream was 20 euros. I don’t refer to the import of the shoplifting, but I mean that the anti-aging cream was ordinary as my women colleagues tell me. I think this movement is a bit tasteless.

I´m sorry for her. She seemed attentive people but politicians have attacked her and she can´t survive (politically). We are very aggressive but you can´t pretend that you are ideal example and, after, we have discovered that it´s not true. It´s frustrating what politicians say it and what politicians do it. I remember the song of the beatles: “Don´t let me down”.

See you.
Friday, 11 May, 2018
Graham said…
Hello J,

I guess you won't be sending a comment tonight. I wonder what you will be doing instead.

I have always said that we deserve the politicans we have. They are a reflection of society.

In this case, what I don't get is why she didn't put her hands up and admit her guilt. She might then have truly resigned with her "head held high".


Mrs. Cifuentes belongs to the shoplifting movement called “mango too”. Her anthem is: I don´t turn my nose up at anything. Her rule is I pinch everything I can. Her slogan is if items go to your handbag, don't resist.

The saddest thing about this story is that the price of the pot of the anti-aging cream was 20 euros. I don’t refer to the fact that she shoplifted, but I mean that the anti-aging cream was an ordianry one as my women colleagues tell me. I think this movement (I can't figure out whta you mean here) is a bit tasteless.

I´m sorry for her. (I'm not). She seemed attentive but politicians attacked her and she couldn't survive (politically). We are very aggressive but you can´t an ideal example and then we discover that it´s not true. It´s frustrating what politicians say and what politicians do. I remember the song of the beatles: “Don´t let me down”.
Saturday, 12 May, 2018
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