(Madrid) Usually on all fronts, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, deep in thought about a possible resignation, observes his second day of silence on Friday, a completely unprecedented decision which is disconcerting in Spain.
The 52-year-old socialist took Spain by surprise by putting his resignation in the balance on Wednesday after the announcement by a Madrid court of the opening of a preliminary investigation for influence peddling and corruption against his wife, Begoña Gómez .
“I need to stop and think” in order to decide “if I should continue to be at the head of the government,” justified Pedro Sánchez in a letter published on the social network X.
Suspending his activities until the announcement of his decision on Monday, the head of government, in power since 2018, has since not uttered a word publicly, nor published a message on the networks.
Which disconcerts a country accustomed to seeing this great communicator increase national and international travel, defend the action of his government on the social level or tirelessly plead for the recognition of the Palestinian state.
The absence of the Prime Minister was felt in particular in Catalonia, where it became a central theme on Thursday evening at the launch of the campaign for the regional election on May 12 in which he was to participate in Barcelona.
“With you, Pedro!” »
“We are with you, Pedro!” », notably launched the socialist candidate for the regional elections, Salvador Illa, in one of the numerous demonstrations of support coming from the entire left to convince the Prime Minister not to resign.
Coming to power shortly after the failure of the secession attempt in this region in 2017, Pedro Sánchez hopes to win this national election and take back this rich region from the separatists.
The Prime Minister was also at the center of the rallies of the other parties, who instead used irony about his letter in which he explained that he was “deeply in love” with his wife to justify his decision.
“I too am in love with my wife and I am not throwing in the towel,” said Pere Aragonés, current president of Catalonia from the independence party ERC, an ally of the government in the Spanish Parliament but a competitor of the socialists in the region.
The investigation against Pedro Sánchez’s wife was opened following a complaint from the association “Manos limpias” (Clean Hands), a collective close to the far right.
It relates in particular, according to the online media El Confidencial, to the links established by Begoña Gómez with the Globalia group, sponsor of the foundation in which she worked, at the time when Air Europa, an airline belonging to Globalia, was negotiating with the government Sánchez obtaining public aid.
On Thursday, the prosecution requested the closure of the investigation but the judge in charge of the case has not yet revealed his intentions.
Denouncing, like their leader, a campaign of destabilization orchestrated by the right and the extreme right and of which this complaint is, according to them, the latest illustration, the socialists announced a demonstration of support for Pedro Sánchez on Saturday in Madrid.
“Telenovela”
The right-wing opposition, for its part, accuses the prime minister of being irresponsible by putting the country on hold.
“For us it is very clear that this is all part of a tactic […] We know Pedro Sánchez and things always take the form of a telenovela […] He makes us all wait and the country is at a standstill,” denounced Cuca Gamarra, number two of the Popular Party (PP), on Friday.
No one in Spain ventures to predict the decision that the Prime Minister might take.
If he decides to stay in his post, he could choose to submit to a question of confidence in order to show the opposition that he enjoys the support of a majority of MPs.
If he resigns, early legislative elections could be called a year after the last ones at the end of July, with or without him at the head of the Socialist Party (PSOE).
In the streets of Madrid, Mercedes Cano, a 69-year-old retired French teacher, believes that “people are tired” of this new development. “The disillusionment is general, whether you are on the left or the right,” she says.