New public spending watchdog set up

PALMA
POLITICAL corruption and ways of stopping it overshadowed all other issues during the first day of the state of the Balearics parliamentary debate.
The President of the Balearic Islands, Francesc Antich, admitted that the recent wave of political corruption scandals has obviously dented public confidence in the Balearic political system and the local political parties but he warned that tough new checks and balances are going to be introduced shortly.

Antich said that before Christmas, a new public expenditure watchdog will be in place “to stop any further misappropriation of public funds and political malpractice.” The President told parliament that the vast majority of the Balearic population is deeply concerned about political corruption and the global credit crunch but tried to ease the public's fears by claiming that the new watchdog will ensure the government's “maximum transparency.”