MADRID: After a court opened a corporate corruption investigation into his wife’s personal affairs, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, announced on Wednesday that he would pause his official duties until the following week in order to consider whether or not to continue heading the government.
Sanchez, the leader of a minority coalition government who last year won another term for his Socialist party, announced that he would make his announcement in front of the media on April 29.
He penned a letter that was posted on his X account, saying, “I need to pause and think.” “I must have a prompt response to the question of whether it is worthwhile for me to continue leading the government or to abdicate this responsibility.”
The unexpected declaration followed a court’s earlier Wednesday statement that it would begin a preliminary inquiry into the possibility that Begona Gomez, Sanchez’s wife, had engaged in influence peddling and corporate corruption in her individual transactions.
Sanchez claimed that a measured response was appropriate given the gravity of the attacks against him and his spouse. He assured him that his spouse would assist with the inquiry and maintain her innocence.
The Gomez investigation was prompted by a complaint from the anti-graft campaign group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), whose leader has ties to the far-right. The court investigating Gomez did not offer any further details because the case is sealed and preliminary.
According to Manos Limpias, Gomez allegedly used her power as the prime minister’s wife to get funding for a master’s program she oversaw at a university.
In addition, Sanchez attacked Santiago Abascal of the far-right Vox party and opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo of the Peoples Party, accusing them of “collaborating” with those spreading the allegations against his wife.
His ministers jumped to his defense, with Teresa Ribera, the minister of energy, declaring, “We have a first rate prime minister.” This is not something he or his family deserve.
