Pedro Sánchez to stay as Prime Minister and fight injustice with ‘more strength’ 

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced he will remain in his role as head of the government in order to fight injustice ‘with more strength’ than he has done so before, after taking five days to consider his political future. 

Sánchez had announced last week that in the face of “hatred” and “threats” from political opponents in the judiciary, he was considering leaving the Spanish government after a corruption investigation was opened into his wife’s business dealings. 

“I needed to stop,” Sánchez said. “Sometimes the only way to advance is to stop and to reflect.”

“I have decided to continue, with more strength if possible, as the head of the administration.” The Socialist leader explained that his decision is a “commitment to work, to regenerate democracy” for the “advancement” of the country.

“It's about deciding what kind of society we want to be. I think our country needs this collective reflection, a reflection that opens the way to cleaning. We have been letting mud colonize public life for too long,” the Prime Minister reflected.

During his address to the public on Monday morning, Sánchez pondered the question, “is it worth it to continue?” in the face of “attacks” that he and his wife have received for “ten years.”

“If we allow the most gross lies to substitute evidence-based debate, then it’s not worth it,” Sánchez said. “There is no honor to justify those who want to do that."

For the leader of the Spanish government, the investigation into his wife “has nothing to do with legitimate debate of political options, it has to do with the rules of the game.”

“If we allow the role of women to be relegated in the domestic sphere, we will have done irreparable damage,” the leader said during his speech, adding that “mixing up freedom of expression with freedom of defamation has disastrous consequences.”

“The smear campaign will not stop, it is serious, but it is not the most relevant thing, we can handle it.”

We want to thank you for the sympathies and messages of solidarity we have received.”

"Best for Catalonia" or country "managed by a scammer"

Pedro Sánchez's statements have had an immediate impact on the future of Catalonia amid the ongoing election campaign.

Catalan Socialist candidate Salvador Illa celebrated the decision during a press conference at the Catalan News Agency (ACN) headquarters.

"[Sánchez's] decision is the best for everybody, especially for Catalonia, and also for the rest of Spain," Illa said before explaining that he was able to speak with the Spanish PM during the weekend and that he showed "his most human side."

The time for Sánchez to consider his future, Illa said, also "opened the door to a resistance movement against politics that has no shame," he added.

Jéssica Albiach, candidate for left-wing Comuns Sumar, stated on Monday that "it is time to end 'lawfare' once and for all" in Spain. Albiach reminded Sánchez that his situation "has been suffered by many other political forces before" and asked the Socialists to repeal the so-called 'gag law' and to renew the General Council of the Judiciary "without a pact with the right."

On the opposite side, pro-independence Junts+ considered that he has "used the emotion caused by the suffering of a terrible media campaign just to gain electoral interest," party leader Jordi Turull said on Monday.

"Spanish democracy has been going backward, but it is also done so partly because of the Socialists," he added, replacing Carles Puigdemont, frontrunner of the party and former Catalan president, as he is mourning his late mother.

The candidate for fellow pro-independence Esquerra Republicana, Pere Aragonès, denounced the "comedy" show and "smoke screen" of Pedro Sánchez. Aragonès also accused the Spanish PM of playing with people's feelings, and of having carried out an "electoral act" for five days.

The head of ERC candidacy list also criticized that the Socialists have taken five days "on vacation." "If this is Illa's style, it does not suit Catalonia that he leads the Catalan government.

Meanwhile, liberal Ciudadanos candidate Carlos Carrizosa criticized the speech as he considers Sánchez left the country awaiting a decision as if it was a thriller.

"I do not trust you. You are a scam," he added, as Spain is "managed by a scammer and a fugitive," in reference to Sánchez and Puigdemont, currently running for Junts+.

Meanwhile, the far-left pro-independence CUP party considered Sánchez's words a way to prove himself he "is a victim of the State, we do not deny it, but the Socialists have also been the State when they are interested," Laia Estrada, CUP's frontrunner, said during a press conference.

"We have seen espionage cases with their current partners, and we also saw the position of the Socialists when they backed to enforce the 155 Article of the Spanish Constitution in 2017, limiting the power of the Catalan government," she added.

For them, the focus "should be on Catalonia, to move forward with self-determination and people's rights."

The candidate for the People's Party in the Catalan elections, Alejandro Fernández, said that "for Sánchez, it is not the judges who can condemn Puigdemont or prosecute his wife. Only he can decide that, and no one else but him," he published in a post on social media site X, formerly Twitter. "Only he knows what is worthy and fair," he added, speaking ironically.

Reaction in Spain

The leader of the conservative People's Party in Spain, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, considers Sánchez's speech "the most dangerous" he has made in his entire career.

Feijóo believes the Socialist leader has shown that "he does not accept discrepancy" and that he wants the country to be "at his service."

"He doesn't want opposition, he doesn't want justice or the media. He just wants himself," the leader of the opposition in the Spanish congress said in a press conference in Madrid on Monday.

However, he ruled out presenting a motion of no confidence against Sánchez "at this moment" because the Prime Minister has "bought" his partners. "Whoever wants to upset Sánchez and separatism, let them vote for the People's Party in Catalonia," Feijóo insisted.

Meanwhile, Yolanda Díaz, leader of the left-wing platform Sumar, junior coalition partner with Sánchez's Socialists in the Spanish government, has urged Sánchez to push for "new public policies" after he announced he is staying in office.

According to Spain's second vice-president, Sánchez must not only comply "fully" with the investiture agreements, but go "beyond" them further.

"We need more than yesterday to strengthen the transformations we started in the last legislature," she said. 

Díaz said that the last few days has marked "a before and an after" in Spanish politics, and insisted that the executive will continue to govern.

The Sumar head also insisted that the "full stop" that Sáncehz referred to in his speech must be backed up by "substance." 

Five days to "consider" future

"Is all of this worth it? Sincerely, I do not know," Sánchez wrote in a letter addressed to "citizens" and shared on social media.

"It is vital for me to answer the question of whether it is worth it, despite the plan of the right-wing parties and far-right parties to make politics something muddy. I wonder if I have to continue heading the Spanish government or step back from this high honor. Despite the image the right-wing parties and far-right parties have tried to paint of me, I have never wanted to attach myself to the role," he added.

Sánchez ended his letter by saying that he would "continue to work, but I will cancel my public agenda some days to consider and decide what path to take."

Based on 'fake' news reports

Sánchez's announcement came hours after a Madrid judge launched a preliminary investigation into his wife, Begoña Gómez, for allegedly using her government connections to influence business deals.

The accusations were made by the anti-corruption group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), whose main activity is to pursue legal cases, many of them linked to right-wing causes.

On Thursday, the leader of Manos Limpias, Spanish lawyer and former politician Miguel Bernad, admitted that the lawsuit they filed in a Madrid court was based "solely" on information from news reports. 

"If [the allegations] are not true, those who published them will have to accept the falsehood, but if they are true, we understand that the legal process will have to continue," he said in a statement. 

The group has participated in several high-profile court cases in recent years, acting as popular prosecutors, a feature of Spanish law that allows individuals and entities to participate in criminal cases without being directly involved.

Shortly after Manos Limpias' statement, the public prosecutor's office appealed the decision to investigate Gómez and requested that the case be dropped.