News alert, Spain | Reuters: Spain’s prime minister remains in office

The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, announced during a press conference on Monday that he will remain as Prime Minister of the country.

This is reported by the Reuters news agency.

– After careful reflection, I have decided that I will remain in office, Sanchez said in a televised speech from the government office La Moncloa on Monday.

There was great tension surrounding whether Sánchez would resign on Monday, and Reuters reported in the morning hours that Sánchez would resign.

That is not how it turned out, and Sánchez continues as prime minister.

Also read: Catalan separatists will press Sanchez for concessions

Smear campaign or corruption?

Last week, Sanchez shocked the country by canceling all appointments and announcing he would take five days off to assess the situation, in a letter he posted on https://twitter.com/sanchezcastejon/status/1783181535337734409.

The background is that his wife Begoña Gómez is being investigated for abusing her position for business purposes. The small, far-right trade union Manos Limpias (Clean Hands) is behind the accusation, and has admitted that it is based on newspaper articles. The prosecutor’s office has also said that it is likely to end in closure.

However, Sanchez has called the attack too personal.

– Our country needs this reflection: We have let our public be a mud bath for far too long. I ask the Spanish community to once again set an example. The problems that have affected us are part of a global movement. Let’s show the world how democracy should be defended, he said, according to the newspaper El Pais.

– Political mud pond

– I have to stop and think about it. I have to consider whether it is worth continuing, given the political mudslide that the conservatives and the far right have turned politics into, he wrote in the letter.

He accuses websites that support the conservative opposition party PP and the far-right party Vox of spreading “spurious” accusations. Sanchez’s supporters have also been out in the streets demonstrating for him to continue.

Pedro Sánchez has been Spain’s prime minister since 2018 and most recently succeeded in November in forming a minority government with the support of several regional parties. He is relatively popular internationally, while many in Spain have strong opinions about him one way or the other.

Also read: Mass protest in Madrid against Spain’s government – calls for the Prime Minister to resign