- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez considers resigning
- A final decision is expected on Monday
- P. Sanchez's Socialist Party (PSOE) has rushed to express solidarity
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez considers resigning
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said he is considering resigning after a court opened a preliminary investigation into his wife's corruption.
On Wednesday evening, he announced on the social network X that he had canceled public appearances for "a few days" to consider how to proceed. Sanchez also said that he was being persecuted by the right and the far right.
"I have to stop and think", the socialist politician said in a "letter to the public". Sanchez wrote that he needed to decide "whether it is worth it" to continue in office despite the "mud pit" that the right and the far right have turned politics into.
A final decision is expected on Monday
The 52-year-old Spanish Prime Minister said he would announce his decision on Monday.
Manos Limpias (Clean Hands) has filed a complaint with a Madrid court against Sanchez's wife, Begona Gomez, for corruption and influence peddling. "Manos Limpias is a private group that has been promoting right-wing causes in Spain for many years. It accuses Gomez, 49, of taking advantage of her position as wife of the Prime Minister for business purposes. The court did not provide any further details, but said that the investigation was "subject to secrecy".
P. Sanchez and B. Gomez have two daughters. The Prime Minister's wife does not hold any public office. She is a marketing expert who has worked in banks and NGOs.
The opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) does not believe that the Prime Minister will resign. Javier Maroto, a PP politician and Vice-President of the Senate, said that this was a "new spectacle" being put on by Sanchez, who accused the Prime Minister of seeking to remain in power at all costs.
P. Sanchez's Socialist Party (PSOE) has rushed to express solidarity
Sanchez, who has been in office since 2018, said in his letter that the complaint was based on "non-existent" facts and was part of a campaign of "harassment" of his wife by the "ultraconservative" media, led by the conservative and the far-right.
"I am not naive. I know that they have made accusations against Begona not because she has done anything illegal, because they know perfectly well that this is not true, but because she is my wife," he added.
P. Sanchez, Spain's first fluent English-speaking Prime Minister, has embarked on a series of leftist reforms and has brought many women into the government. After his party's extremely poor showing in the local and regional elections in 2023, he was considered a political corpse, but suddenly announced early general elections.
His Socialists came second in the July general election, beaten by the center-right People's Party, but Sanchez won a majority in parliament, securing the support of the far-left Sumar party and smaller regional parties, including the Catalan separatists. In return, the two main Catalan separatist parties have demanded a controversial amnesty for hundreds of people facing trial for their role in the failed bid for independence of the northeastern region in 2017.
Based on ELTA reports
