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“I need to stop and think” in order to decide “whether I should continue to be at the head of the government or if I should renounce this honor,” he wrote, indicating that he would announce its decision on Monday to the press and suspend its activities until then.
“Is all this worth it? I do not know (…). I need to stop and think (…) whether I should remain at the head of the government or renounce this great honor (…). I will continue to work but I will cancel my public agenda (…). Monday, April 29, I will appear before the media and make my decision known.. This is not a letter of resignation that Pedro Sánchez, the head of the Spanish executive, signed. Nor is it a reaction statement to the opening of a judicial investigation against his wife, Begoña Sánchez, accused through the press and then through the courts of being caught in a possible conflict of interest. It is an unidentified political object, which Sánchez calls a “letter to citizens” and which he published on Wednesday on the X network a little after 7 p.m. A text which surprised all of Spain and, visibly, the majority of ministers and executives of its formation, the Socialist Party (PSOE).
Immediately, the Spanish media speculated on the deep motivations, sincere or tactical, of such an announcement, and its promised outcome for Monday. Television talk shows questioned editorialists of all stripes, whose opinions were directly linked to their editorial line.
Most of the guests known for their conservative positions imagined a strategic plan. “A campaign coup”judged on Telecinco the director ofEl Mundothree weeks before the Catalan regional elections on May 12 and a month and a half before the European elections. “He seeks empathy from citizens”, added an analyst on the same channel. The fact is that in his letter of just over three pages, Sánchez considers that “We often forget that behind political leaders, there are people. And no, I am not ashamed to say it, I am a man deeply in love with my wife who experiences with helplessness the mud that is dumped on her every day.. And we saw in Parliament say a few hours earlier, visibly moved, that despite the context, he “continued to believe in the justice of (his) country”.
“His entourage had to convince him”
The media left, on the contrary, sees it as proof of the humanity of the leader “who put up with everything from the right-wing opposition”as the director of ElDiario.es, Ignacio Escolar, said on the channel La Sexta. “If he had announced his decision today, it would have been to say that he was leaving. Those around him must have convinced him to think about it for a few days”. And it is on other phrases that the emphasis is placed by these commentators, such as the qualification of“unprecedented attack” revelations about the activities of the wife of the head of government.
The latter is questioned by an online newspaper whose reputation for investigation fits poorly with the qualifiers of “constellation of ultraconservative stocks” and of “media with a very marked orientation to the right and the extreme right” with which Sánchez rewards the press which accuses him. ElConfidencial.com leafs through the revelations on the meetings between Begoña Gómez and the managers of an industrial group whose airline benefited from a rescue plan of several hundred million euros during the pandemic… The company also sponsored activities of a private education group of which Begoña Gómez directed a specialized center on Africa.
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On the other hand, the importance of the legal action motivated by this press information, known this Monday and presented by Sánchez as the motivation for his letter, is minimized by many observers. The investigation responds to the action of an association, Manos Limpias, which carries out popular accusation, a sort of “second prosecutor’s office” which makes it possible to denounce illegal behavior without the complainant being a victim – unlike civil parties. However, Manos Limpias is accustomed to poorly prepared cases and was accused of extortion by banks and large companies, convicted at first instance, then acquitted on appeal for lack of evidence. Known in particular for her action against the Infanta Cristina, sister of Felipe VI, and her husband, she had until then never succeeded in causing such a political thunderclap.
