Thousands demonstrating in Madrid want PM Sánchez to stay in office
PM announces that he is considering resigning, citing the corruption charge against his wife
OVER 10,000 people demonstrated in Madrid on Saturday in favour of keeping left-wing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in his job, after he said he would decide on Monday on whether to resign after a rightwing group made allegations against his wife.
At the rally outside the headquarters of Sánchez’s socialist PSOE party, people shouted slogans such as “Pedro, don’t surrender,” “Of course it’s worth it” and “Stay” while waving red party flags and banners with the words “Sánchez, yes, keep going,” as seen on the state TV station RTVE.
Others shouted “Democracy yes, fascism no” or “You are not alone.” The public prosecutor’s office in Madrid has requested that a preliminary investigation into a corruption allegation against First Lady Begoña Gómez be dropped, the TV station RTVE, the newspaper El País and other media reported on Thursday, citing the judiciary.
Meanwhile, the PSOE presidium met at the party headquarters, with the meeting being broadcast publicly for the first time. Leading party members called on Sánchez not to resign.
“Democracies become regressive when election results are denied legitimacy,” warned Sánchez deputy María Jesús Montero. This is precisely what the right and the far right are trying to achieve with a “strategy of mud-slinging,” she warned.
“Pedro, stay,” Montero demanded.
Last Wednesday, Sánchez had surprisingly announced that he was considering resigning, citing the corruption charge against his wife.
Spain’s conservative Popular Party (PP) demanded explanations in parliament earlier on Wednesday, to which the prime minister said simply that he believed in justice “despite everything”.
Sánchez suspended public duties to “stop and reflect” on whether to remain in the job, after a court opened a preliminary inquiry into his wife.
In a statement, the Spanish leader said he urgently needed
to decide “whether I should continue to lead the government or renounce this honour”.
He said he would announce his decision on Monday. Until then, he wanted to think about whether it was still “worth it, despite the swamp in which the right and right-wing extremists are trying to play politics.”
Sánchez said he was pondering whether he “should continue to head the government or step down from this high honour.”
The complaint against the prime minister’s wife was filed by Manos Limpias, or Clean Hands, an organization which is classified as very right-wing. The organization has attracted
attention in recent years with numerous complaints in the area of public administration and accuses Gómez, who holds no public office, of exerting influence and corruption in the economy.
Manos Limpias put out a statement on Thursday signed by Bernad acknowledging that its allegations might be false, because they were based on online newspaper stories: “If they are not true, it will be up to those that published them to take responsibility for the falsehood.”
Manos Limpias later admitted that the charges were based on media reports that could well be false.