The day Camps changed his mind

For more than two years, Mariano Rajoy went out of his way to support Francisco Camps. But behind his back, the Popular Party leader hoped that "the problem" would just go away. Rajoy never asked the Valencia regional chief to step down — he secretly hoped that Camps would just cave into pressure. And on Wednesday, he got his wish: Camps stepped down as regional premier.

Rajoy knew he couldn't force Camps to give up his position; the regional chief had resisted all calls to resign, even after he was indicted on Friday for allegedly receiving dress suits from a corrupt group of businessmen, who in turn won fat contracts from the Valencia government.

During the days leading up to the resignation, Rajoy and other PP leaders told Camps that the party could not afford a trial in the fall, when the general election campaign is expected to get underway. So Camps was offered an alternative: plead guilty to the charges and pay a hefty fine but stay on as premier. Rajoy would accept Camps thus becoming the first sitting regional chief in modern Spanish history with a criminal record.

"The solution was the lesser of two evils," PP sources say.

Besides Camps, who wasn't entirely convinced and wanted to stand trial, the PP had another problem. Ricardo Costa, the former Valencia party secretary general who was among the three who were also indicted with Camps, didn't want to plead out. Costa believed it could help pave the way for another indictment on illegal party financing, a case for which he is being investigated. If found guilty, Costa would be facing jail time because of his prior conviction on the suits matter. Under instructions from Rajoy, Castilla-La Mancha premier Mar¨ªa Dolores de Cospedal spoke to Costa Tuesday night and asked him to also plead out. In return, she told him that the PP would give him compensation and treat him fairly in the future. Reluctantly and against the advice of his lawyer, Costa accepted.

Everyone in the PP, including Rajoy and De Cospedal, went to bed Tuesday night believing the situation was resolved. The following morning, Costa tacked on a condition: he would not sign the plea agreement unless Camps signed it first. He had been burned in the past by the PP, when he was forced to resign as regional party chief in October 2009.

Early Wednesday morning, lawyers for Camps and two other co-defendants — V¨ªctor Campos, the former deputy regional premier; and Rafael Betoret, the region's former tourism chief — showed up at the High Court to present the plea agreements. Campos and Betoret signed their pleas while the court and reporters waited for Camps to show up. The regional chief never did.

Holed up in the premier's office, Camps was facing a dilemma. At the last moment, he gave up and, without telling many local party leaders, scheduled a news conference for 5pm. It started a half hour later.

There was more confusion. National television networks were unable to broadcast the resignation speech live because of technical difficulties. But according to the Valencia daily Las Provincias, it was the regional government that stopped the networks from carrying the speech live.

Radio reporters were not allowed to connect their cables to Camps' main microphone and could only carry the transmission through their cellphones. The Federation of Journalists Associations (FAPE) has said it will file a complaint with the regional government.

"He didn't want to become a convicted premier. Now he feels free," said one person who spoke with Camps.