Madrid, Apr 24 (EFE).- Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez said Wednesday that he is suspending his public duties to “stop and reflect” on whether he will continue in his position.
The shock announcement by the leader of the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) comes after a Madrid court opened an investigation into his wife, Begoña Gómez, over alleged influence peddling and corruption in business.
The complaint was lodged by Manos Limpias (‘Clean Hands’), a trade union representing public sector employees that was founded by Miguel Bernad Remón, a lawyer and former politician with close ties to the Spanish far-right.
In a letter addressed to Spanish citizens that he posted on X, Sánchez said he would announce whether he will continue in his role on Monday, Apr. 29.
“I must urgently answer the question of whether it is worth it (…) to continue as the head of the government or to renounce this honor,” he said, accusing the “right and far-right” of turning politics into a “mire.”
He condemned the “unprecedented” attack against his wife, and accused leader of the conservative opposition People’s Party Alberto Núñez Feijóo and the far-right Vox leader Santiago Abascal of being “necessary collaborators”.
“Without any shame, Feijoo and Abascal and the interests that move them (…) are trying to dehumanize and delegitimize their political adversary by means of scandalous and false accusations,” the prime minister said.
Sánchez said the right-wing and far-right had resorted to targeting his wife as a way to attack him and the progressive values represented by the coalition government that is based on “economic development, social justice and democratic rejuvenation.”
The prime minister insisted that his wife would defend her honor and would collaborate with the investigation to clarify “facts as scandalous in appearance as they are non-existent”.
The letter added that the complaint is based on “alleged information from a constellation of ultra-conservative newspapers” and that Begoña Gómez has taken legal action so that those same newspapers correct the “spurious” reports.
BB/ks
