On Thursday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez gave Spain political pressure as he publicly considered resigning after agreeing to an investigation into his wife over allegations that he and other officials accused of political slander. A wave of confusion washed over me.
The judge’s decision to take up the case, brought by a self-styled anti-corruption group based on online news reports about allegations of influence spreading, prompted Sanchez’s suit. Advocates must rally behind him and prosecutors must move quickly to get the case dismissed on Thursday.
Mr. Sánchez, whose political survival skills have long amazed supporters and detractors alike, wrote in an open letter Wednesday that the accusations against his wife, Begoña Gómez, are false and amount to harassment. Mr Sanchez, one of Europe’s most prominent left-wing leaders, has canceled his public schedule while considering his future actions. He is scheduled to address the nation on Monday.
Sánchez’s supporters have mobilized rallies to persuade him to stay as he huddles with his family and resists pleas from allies to campaign ahead of key elections in Catalonia and the European Parliament. We talked about what to do.
And a wide range of Spaniards, from political elites to ordinary people on the streets, expressed bewilderment at the unusual situation in the country and the unusual withdrawal of the prime minister, who only regained his post in last summer’s election.
Pablo Simón, a political scientist at Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, said he was shocked by the deeply personal tone of Sánchez’s letter, calling it “a mess.” He added that the investigation into Mr. Sanchez’s wife of 18 years clearly caused an emotional response. The reason, politically speaking, is that “there was no clear motive for this plan. It’s very dangerous.”
“He has done something unprecedented in a democracy,” Simon added, suggesting the prime minister was betting that the public would find the investigation into his wife so outrageous as to prompt a national liquidation. Sanchez is calling for a “vote of social confidence,” asking the public, the media, and even dissidents of the establishment to take sides and decide, “Do you think this is acceptable?” He said he is calling on them to do so.
The sudden crisis was triggered by a Spanish judge’s decision to accept a complaint from Clean Hands, a group known for bringing politicians and other prominent Spaniards to court. was.
The group accused Gomez of influence misappropriation and corruption, citing as strong evidence online news reports that the group acknowledged may contain false information. The judge ordered a preliminary investigation based on these online media reports.
Two of the articles allege that Gomez signed two letters of recommendation in 2020 in support of bids for public contracts by a group of companies with which he has personal and professional connections. According to the article, the group’s main stakeholders designed the master’s degree program that Mr. Gomez ran at Madrid’s Complutense University, and that the companies he supported competed against 20 rivals and received 10 million euros. The company claims to have secured three contracts worth the above amount. $10.7 million.
The complaint by Clean Hands alleges that Gomez met with representatives of Spanish airline Air Europa in 2020 and signed a confidential agreement under which the airline would pay him 40,000 euros a year.・She donated $43,000 to the Africa Center, which she led at a private university, as cited in the article in “Confidential”. A few months later, airlines received more than 400 million euros in bailout funds during the pandemic.
In a statement, the Africa Center denied that it had “ever received any funding” from Air Europa’s parent company or affiliates. The center said it had signed a sponsorship deal with the airline’s parent company in 2020 during Gomez’s tenure that included four tickets to a work event in London, but it “was not implemented” due to the pandemic. The center said Gomez’s 2018 contract specifically prevented the center from benefiting from her “familial status.”
Spanish media widely reported that one of the news reports cited by Clean Hands had already been found to be incorrect. The online newspaper The Objective accused the government of concealing information that the prime minister’s wife had been given a subsidy, but it turns out that was not the case. Grant recipient She was a businesswoman in the catering industry with the same name as Mr. Gomez.
The judge summoned two journalists to testify about the report. Mr. Sanchez’s wife, Mr. Gomez, has not been subpoenaed and has not commented on her charges.
But the government insists the Clean Hands charges are unfounded, saying Gomez has done nothing wrong or improper and that the opposition party, whose headlines first linked the prime minister to corruption He claimed to have passed to.
On Thursday, Spain’s independent public prosecutor’s office filed a so-called “direct appeal” with the regional court of Madrid, seeking to dismiss the preliminary investigation.
Clean Hands leader Miguel Bernado acknowledged that the complaints may be based on false information.
“Now it will be up to a judge to verify whether the journalistic information in question is true,” he said in a statement.
In an open letter, Sanchez wrote that the accusations against his wife, who played a key role in his political rise, are untrue.
“While we have denied the falsehoods expressed, Begoña has taken legal action to force the same digital company to correct what we claim is false information,” he wrote. “It was an act of harassment and sabotage by land, sea and air,” he added. There was an atmosphere of trying to undermine me both politically and personally by attacking her wife. ”
In Spain, individual citizens belonging to groups like Clean Hands can file legal complaints even if they are not personally involved and have not suffered any damage. The group’s website describes its main purpose as filing “complaints of all kinds against political or economic corruption that harm the public or general interest.”
Spain’s national court found the group guilty in 2021 of using a smear campaign to extort banks and companies. Spain’s Supreme Court overturned the verdict, saying no crime had been committed, but calling the group’s methods “reprehensible.”
Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz, leader of the left-wing Smar coalition, echoed complaints about the smear campaign on Wednesday. Said Right-wing forces “will not be allowed to win.”
However, despite winning more votes than Mr. Sánchez, Spain’s main conservative opposition is still learning the lessons of its failure to form a government, and is building a broader coalition to outsmart their political rivals. I took the opportunity to repeat this.
The center-right People’s Party accused Sánchez of engaging in victimization for political gain and insisted that the prime minister tell him all about the “scandals surrounding the party, the government and the partners.”
Experts say several steps are likely to be taken if Sanchez resigns.
His government will be a caretaker government until parliament agrees on new candidates to form a coalition. Mr Sanchez could also ask parliament to decide whether to remain in the party through a vote of confidence, which would require only a simple majority.
Mr. Sánchez could also call another snap election, as he did after his party suffered a landslide defeat in local elections last year.
At the time, he succeeded in mustering enough support to prevent the centre-right People’s Party and the far-right party Box from forming a government. He then won a parliamentary majority by rallying together other difficult and often opposing parties.
But holding a snap election carries risks, especially as the latest opinion polls show the Socialist Party lagging behind the People’s Party.
