Laurence Dollimore
SPANISH Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez launched a scathing attack against right wing leaders in an open letter tonight – in which he revealed he may step down from government on Monday.
The PSOE leader accused Partido Popular leader Alberto Feijoo and far-right Vox chief Santiago Abascal of ‘throwing mud’ at him in a transparent attempt to ‘delegitimise’ him.
The dramatic letter came just hours after a case was filed against his wife for alleged ‘influence peddling’.
Read the full letter below:
As you may already know… a court in Madrid has opened preliminary proceedings against my wife, Begoña Gómez, at the request of a far-right organisation called Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), to investigate alleged crimes of influence peddling and corruption in business. .
Apparently, the judge will call those responsible for two digital newspapers that have been publishing on this matter to testify. In my opinion, they are media with a marked right-wing and ultra-right orientation…
Begoña will defend her honorability and will collaborate fully with Justice to clarify facts that are as scandalous in appearance as they are non-existent...
Indeed, the complaint by Manos Limpias is based on alleged information from that collection of ultra-conservative newspapers referred to above.
I emphasise the alleged information because, after its publication, we have been denying the falsehoods while Begoña has taken legal action so that these same digital companies rectify what, we maintain, is spurious information.
This harassment has been going on for months. Therefore. I am not surprised by the overacting of Mr. Feijóo and Mr. Abascal.
In this outrage as serious as it is crude, both are necessary collaborators with a far-right digital galaxy and the Manos Limpias organisation. In fact, it was Mr. Feijóo who reported the case to the Conflict of Interest Office, requesting they give me 5 to 10 years of disqualification from holding public office.
The complaint was filed twice by said body, whose officials were subsequently disqualified by the leadership of the PP and Vox.
Next, they exploited their conservative majority in the Senate, promoting an investigative commission to, as they say, clarify the facts related to this matter…
In short, it is an operation of harassment and demolition by land, sea and air, to try and weaken me politically and personally by attacking my wife.
I’m not naive. I am aware that they are denouncing Begoña not because she has done something illegal, they know there is no case, but because she is my wife.
As I am also fully aware that the attacks I suffer are not against me but rather against what I represent: a progressive political option, supported election after election by millions of Spaniards, based on economic progress, social justice and democratic regeneration.
This fight started years ago. First, with the defense we made of the political autonomy of the organisation that best represents progressive Spain, the Socialist Party. A fight that we won.
Second, after the motion of censure and the successive electoral victories of 2019, the sustained attempt to delegitimise the progressive coalition government in the heat of the ignominious cry of “let Txapote vote for you.” They couldn’t bankrupt us either.
The last episode was the general elections of July 23, 2023. The Spanish people voted overwhelmingly for progress, allowing the reelection of a progressive coalition government, against the coalition government of Mr. Feijóo and Mr. Abascal that was predicted by the conservative media...
Democracy endured, but the right and the extreme right, again, did not accept the electoral result. They were aware that the political attack would not be enough and now they have crossed the line of respect for the family life of a President of the Government with an attack on his personal life.
Without any shame, Mr. Feijóo and Mr. Abascal, and the interests that move them, have launched what the great Italian writer, Umberto Eco, called “the mud machine.” That is, trying to dehumanise and delegitimise the political adversary through accusations that are as scandalous as they are false.
This is my reading of the situation that our beloved country is experiencing: a coalition of right-wing and ultra-right interests that do not tolerate the reality of Spain, that do not accept the verdict of the polls, and that are willing to spread mud in order to: first, cover up their obvious corruption scandals and their inaction regarding them; second, hide their total absence of a political project beyond insult and misinformation; and third, use all the means at their disposal to personally and politically destroy the political adversary.
This is a coalition of right-wing and ultra-right interests that extends far and wide across the main Western democracies, and to which, I guarantee, I will always respond with reason, truth and education.
At this point, the question I legitimately ask myself is, is all this worth it? Sincerely I dont know. This attack is unprecedented, it is so serious and so gross that I need to stop and reflect with my wife. Many times we forget that behind politicians there are people. And I, it doesn’t bother me, I decide, I am a man deeply in love with my wife who lives helplessly with the mud that is spread on her day in and day out.
I need to stop and reflect. I urgently need to answer the question of whether it is worth it, despite the mud into which the right and the extreme right try to turn politics.
Whether I should continue at the head of the Government or resign from this high honour. Despite the caricature that the right and the extreme right in politics and the media have tried to make of me, I have never been attached to the position.
Yes, I have it for duty, political commitment and public service. I do not go through positions, I assert the legitimacy of those high responsibilities to transform and advance the country that I love.
All of this leads me to say that I will continue working, but that I will cancel my public agenda for a few days to be able to reflect and decide which path to take. Next Monday, April 29, I will appear before the media and announce my decision.
Thanks for your time. Sincerely.
Pedro Sanchez
