Pedro Sánchez is not resigning. The current prime minister will remain at the helm of the Spanish government despite the "discredit campaign" suffered by him and his wife in recent months Begoña Gomez, culminating in the complaint filed against Gómez by the far-right "pseudo union" (this is the definition used by many Spanish newspapers) Manos Limpias.
Spain: what happened and why Sánchez thought about resigning
It all started from one complaint filed by Manos Limpias, an organization that defines itself as a trade union, but which in reality has very few members and which over the last thirty years has done nothing but file complaints against politicians, most of whom are progressives and socialists like the former prime minister minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Manos Limpias is described as a far-right organisation, close to various extremist groups, founded in '95 by Miguel Bernard, a far-right militant and supporter of Francisco Franco.
Following the complaint the Madrid court has opened an investigation against Begoña Gómez, wife of Pedro Sánchez for influence peddling. The investigation concerns the relationships between Gómez and some private companies that received funds and public contracts from the government led by her husband. According to the accusations, Gómez exploited his relationship with Sánchez to help a private company obtain a large public loan. These are accusations based only and exclusively on eight articles, all published in conservative newspapers, one of which has already been declared false. Not by chance, the Attorney General's Office has already requested the dismissal.
Sánchez's reaction
Wednesday, through a “letter to citizens” published on various social networks, Pedro Sánchez had announced his intention to take a few days to "evaluate his resignation". According to the prime minister, in fact, he and his wife have been the subject of a "discredit campaign" for years, supported not only by far-right organizations such as Manos Limpias, but also by right-wing and centre-right parties, such as the Popular Party and Vox . “It is urgent for me to answer the question of whether it is worth it, despite the quagmire in which the right and far right claim to transform politics. If I have to continue leading the government or give up this great honor,” the prime minister wrote in the letter. “I don't blush to say it, I am a man deeply in love with my wife, who lives with helplessness the mud they throw on her daily“, he added.
In the following days, the head of the Iberian executive received many messages of "closeness and support" from socialist politicians. Thousands of people took part in a demonstration in support of the prime minister in Madrid on Saturday.
After five days of reflection, therefore, in which no one - not even his entourage - knew what he would decide, on Monday morning Sánchez showed up at Moncloa, announcing his intention to remain at the helm of the government, the third he has chaired in the last five years.
In his speech, the Spanish Prime Minister lashed out against "the bullies who engage in the art of defamation", of a "persecution that has been going on for many years". “My wife and I – he said – know that this discredit campaign will not stopWe've been suffering from it for 10 years. She is Grave”. “For too long we have let mud colonize political and public life with impunity, contaminating us with toxic practices unimaginable just a few years ago,” continued Sánchez, announcing his desire to remain at the helm of the government. “I decided to continue with even more strength as head of the presidency of the Spanish government,” he concluded.
