Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has said he may well step down after his wife was accused of corruption.
Madrid Provincial Prosecutor’s Office is asking for the investigation against the wife of the Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez to be closed, Spanish media has reported.
Begoña Gómez is being accused of alleged offences of influence peddling and corruption.
On Wednesday, a Spanish judge agreed to open an investigation into allegations of corruption made by a private group that, according to the Associated Press, has a history of filing lawsuits mainly for right-wing causes.
Due to the accusations against his partner, Sánchez immediately announced the decision to suspend his duties until next week in order or “think things over.” He has said he will even consider resigning if needs be.
This Thursday, the opposition reacted. Alberto Núñez Feijóo of the conservative Popular Party (PP) has accused Sánchez of trying to “intimidate the opposition, judges and journalists”, adding that he doesn’t believe that the head of the Spanish government will resign, adding that he will end up “sinking alone”.
“In Spain, no one is outside the law, no matter what their surname is. Spaniards neither accept double standards nor seem willing to have their coexistence and harmony threatened for anyone’s personal survival,” said Feijóo.
For Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Sophie in’t Veld, the most important is to maintain stability within the EU member states.
“I would say that we need stability now, we need stability now more than ever. We see so much instability in many member states, in Europe, in other parts of the world. And if I look at the Spanish situation, we have seen how difficult it was to get a government in the first place in such a hung parliament,” she said.
“So I really hope that this is not going to lead to further instability. And whatever the personal ambitions of Mr. Sanchez are, I don’t know. But I would say the first responsibility is to secure stability in all member states,” addded the Dutch liberal MEP.
On the streets of Madrid, opinions are divided.
“He (Sánchez) has the right as every human being to think, and prioritise either his family or politics,” says 60-year-old Madrid resident Rocio Blazquez.
Ana (no surname given), a former civil servant and also a ‘Madrileña’, thinks differently.
“He takes five days of holiday to think about it, the rest of us cannot do that when we have a problem,” she says.
