Pedro Sánchez stays on as prime minister of Spain
The Socialist leader had threatened to resign due to right-wing attacks targeting his family.
Spain's Pedro Sánchez decided to stay on as prime minister. | Pool photo by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images
April 29, 2024 11:22 am CET
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Monday that he would not go through with his threat to resign his office.
“I have decided to remain prime minister,” he said in an emotional address to the nation.
Sánchez’s announcement concluded a five-day “period of reflection” that the prime minister took following the launch of a corruption and influence peddling probe directed at his wife, Begoña Gómez. The preliminary investigation was prompted by a criminal complaint filed by a group with links to the far right known for filing baseless lawsuits against people connected with progressive causes.
Although prosecutors have called for the case to be dismissed, and legal experts say that it is baseless, its acceptance by the judiciary rocked Sánchez, who on Wednesday published a four-page letter revealing that he was thinking of resigning as a result of the constant stream of attacks by right-wing groups against him and his family.
During his address to the nation Sánchez denounced the toxic political landscape in Spain.
“If we accept that politics involves attacking innocent people, it’s not worth it,” he added. “There is no honor that will justify the suffering of the people you love the most.”
The threat of resignation led to an outpouring of support for Sánchez from the upper echelons of his Socialist Party, and from thousands of supporters who took to the streets this weekend. The prime minister said the public show of support had convinced him to remain in office.
“The smear campaign directed against me and my family will not stop,” he said. “But we can manage: The important thing is that we want to thank you for the expressions of solidarity received from all areas.”
Sánchez’s announcement concludes a weekend of nervousness in Spain, which would likely have entered an unprecedented era of political uncertainty had he resigned. The Socialist leader has no clear successor, and opposition Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo does not have the support needed to form an alternative, right-wing government.
The prime minister’s resignation would have left the country with a caretaker government until parliament could be dissolved and new elections held during the summer. That scenario would have likely left Spain without a strong voice in Brussels at a moment when the EU’s top jobs from are set to be allocated.
