Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez passed away on Monday Days of speculation about his future saying he would proceed in office “with even more vigor.”
Sánchez shocked his country last Wednesday when he took five days off to think about his future after a court ruled against the opening Investigations against his wife to allegations of corruption.
“I have decided to continue at the head of the Spanish government with even more vigor,” he said in a televised address after welcoming King Felipe VI. informed of the choice early Monday.
His resignation would have left Europe with out a distinguished socialist prime minister ahead of European elections in June and at a time when the center-right is gaining influence.
“It is a decision that does not mean a return to the status quo, it will be a before and after, I promise you,” Sánchez said, without elaborating on what steps he might take to finish “the smear campaign,” as he called it says contain and his family is on the door.
The euro zone’s fourth-largest economy has been in limbo since Sánchez, prime minister since 2018, published an emotional letter on X on Wednesday before holed up in his Moncloa Palace, the prime minister’s residence in Madrid. In it, he said the actions against his wife were too personal an attack on his family and that he needed time to determine his priorities.
In that letter, wherein he declared that he was “deeply in love” together with his wife, Begoña Gómez, he said that he could now not simply stand by as she became the goal of a legal investigation based on allegations from a right-wing platform that She was accused of using her position to influence business deals.
The group Manos Limpias, or Clean Hands, acknowledged that the grievance was based on newspaper articles. Spanish prosecutors say it needs to be thrown out.
The anticipation was so great on Monday that Spain’s state broadcaster arrange a 10-minute countdown on its morning news talk show before his on-screen announcement.
From the steps of the Moncloa Palace, Sánchez said that he and his wife “know that this campaign to discredit them will not stop” but that he had decided he couldn’t give his opponents the satisfaction of giving up.
Rallies of his supporters The past few days had played a job in his decision, he said.
Essentially, Sánchez had 4 options: resign, get a vote of confidence in parliament, call recent elections or stay in office.
Sánchez said the letter, the controversial cancellation of his public agenda and his final decision to stay in office “were not made out of political calculation.”
“I am aware that I have shown a level of personal intimacy that is not normally allowed in politics,” he added.
Whether it was primarily out of concern for his family or not, Sánchez’s decision can have political repercussions ahead of necessary regional elections in Catalonia in two weeks and within the European elections.
Sanchez’s Concessions to Catalan separatist parties to remain in power dominated the political debate in Spain. By remaining in office, Sánchez hopes to transcend that and concentrate on what he sees as a matter of political fair play.
“He gave himself a free campaign event for five full days. Those who were with him will now be with him until death,” Montserrat Nebrera, a political analyst and professor of constitutional law on the International University of Catalonia, told The Associated Press.
“It looks like a campaign move designed to increase the polarization of the electorate between those who are for him and those who are against him,” she said. “It should have an impact on the elections in Catalonia and even more so on the European elections, where things didn’t turn out so well for the Socialists.”
Sánchez, 52, could Form a brand new left-wing minority coalition government Another four-year term begins in November. While it’s popular internationally, it’s loved or despised in Spain.
Sánchez blamed investigations against his wife on online news sites politically linked to the leading opposition conservative People’s Party and the far-right Vox party that spread “false” allegations.
However, the Popular Party described Sánchez’s behavior as unworthy of a frontrunner. The People’s Party and Vox commonly compare him to a dictator and a traitor to Spain.
“(Sánchez) has pulled the leg of a nation of 48 million people,” Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said Monday. “He neglected his duties for five days as part of an election maneuver.”
Sánchez justified his unprecedented break with the necessity to think in peace.
“We live in a society that teaches us and requires us to give full throttle no matter what,” Sánchez said in his short speech. “But sometimes the only way in life is to stop, think and decide clearly which path we want to take.”
