Pedro Sánchez refuses to resign amid potential corruption scandal

Pedro Sánchez has announced this Monday in an official statement that he is staying on as president of the Government, after a five-day period of reflection on his continuity in the post as a result of the "harassment campaign" against his wife, Begoña Gómez, which he denounced last Wednesday. "This discrediting campaign will not stop. We can handle it," he has said, referring to himself and his wife. "The important thing is that we want to thank the shows of solidarity received from all walks of life. Thanks to this mobilization, I have decided to remain at the head of the presidency", Report informs.

Sánchez also thanked people for the messages of support received over the weekend, which, he assured, have weighed in his decision. In his speech, he also made a plea for decency in political life. "It is about deciding what kind of society we want to be. Our country needs this reflection. We have been letting mud contaminate our public life for too long", reports Spanish newspaper EL Pais.

This decision comes after the Spanish Prime Minister claimed last week he is open to resign due to the controversies surrounding his family’s involvement in business activities. Pedro Sánchez, also denounced last Wednesday a campaign of harassment and demolition of the right and the ultra-right against him through his wife, Begoña Gómez, based on information spread by some media and amplified by complaints in the courts of a right wing group, Manos Limpias, which usually file lawsuits against the Government or the PSOE (socialist party of the Prime Minister) that just as often end up rejected by the the Spanish Judiciary.

According to the editorial piece published in El Pais, from the exhaustive investigations carried out by that newspaper, there does not seem to be any evidence that the activities of Begoña Gómez incur in what the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court considers a crime of influence peddling. In the two cases that the rival party, Partido Popular, has been denouncing for several months based on information presented from Manos Limpios, no evidence was found that Gómez's activities and her professional relationships have influenced in any way the aid received by certain private companies.

Nevertheless, the leader of the Partido Popular, Alberto Feijóo indicates that Sánchez already represents the past and has offered himself as the new leader of the government.

"It doesn't matter what he says. Sánchez will be forever marked by the decadence he has brought to our country, he can stretch the agony more or less, but he already represents the past," he stressed. Feijóo has also insinuated that this Saturday's demonstration in Madrid in support of the Prime- Minister, was a "self-organized" act, while stressing that it is the PP that represents "the political future of Spain".

The figure of Pedro Sánchez has been suscitating interest of figures in the Spanish establishment for a long time. The ex-commissioner José Manuel Villarejo has claimed this Monday that both the National Intelligence Center (CNI) and the PP government of Mariano Rajoy (former leader of the party) were involved in the alleged spying on the father-in-law of Sánchez, when he was the leader of the opposition.

In statements to RAC1, Villarejo said that "there was concern, above all, in the CNI" for an "emerging political figure" in 2014, that of Pedro Sánchez, because "he could have a moral problem". "It was logical that it was analyzed," he stressed.

Despite everything, Pedro Sánchez will continue on as the head of government but it is worth mentioning that the activities of his wife, no matter how legal, will lead to reputational damage to him and see his popularity fall in the long term.

Adil Malikov