“We are in shock”, many leaders of the PSOE admitted after Wednesday evening Pedro Sánchez posted on social networks the letter to the public in which he announced that he is considering resigning as president of the Spanish Government due to the “harassment operation systematic” that the right-wing have deployed against his wife, Begoña Gómez.
The surprising announcement, totally unexpected and of which Minister Félix Bolaños only heard shortly before it was broadcast, stunned everyone in Moncloa, the central government and the PSOE. Sánchez wrote the letter directly, without consulting anyone from the hard core, suspended the public agenda, retired to the residence and asked the team to leave him alone to reflect in the privacy of his family the final decision, which he will communicate on Monday.
In the absence of Sánchez, and despite the custom that not a single blade of grass moves in the Executive or in the party without his consent, on Wednesday night his closest collaborators were summoned to the Moncloa the news and analyze the unexpected situation. As for example the first vice-president of the Spanish Government and deputy general secretary of the PSOE, María Jesús Montero; Ministers Félix Bolaños and Óscar Puente; the organizing secretary of Ferraz, Santos Cerdán; Sánchez’s chief of staff, Óscar López, and the Secretary of State for Communications, Francesc Vallès. The uncertainty is absolute, waiting for the president of the Spanish Government to announce the decision on Monday: “We’ll see what happens”, they allege. “We must all reflect as a society”, they say.
However, the impression is spreading among those who gathered in Moncloa and the socialist leadership that Sánchez, who say that he is “very touched and affected” by the offensive launched by the right against his wife, is determined to go “Another thing is difficult to explain”, admits one of his early followers.
But the conclusion of the meeting was the determination to transmit close support to Sánchez so that he continues at the head of the central government and does not throw in the towel because of the political, media and judicial offensive that they report that is aimed at his wife.
It is precisely this widespread impression that Sánchez is determined to leave – despite the fact that he is presumed not to have confirmed anything to anyone – that explains the reaction yesterday by the central government and the PSOE to prove that the president reconsiders the position and try to prevent him from resigning.
Montero and Bolaños undertook this reaction in early morning radio interviews. “Right now we are all very focused on the fact that the decision that the president takes on Monday is to continue at the head of an essential project for this country, which is being a successful project in economic and social matters”, assured the first vice-president and number two of the PSOE in Se r. “Right now we are focused on trying to get positive energies to him,” insisted Montero.
The socialist leader conveyed all the support to the president of the Spanish Government, “and I think also that of millions of people”, so that she boosted the wave of accessions, which already started on Wednesday night. “We need him so that Spain continues to advance. Cheer up, president”, said the first vice-president. If Sánchez resigns on Monday, Montero would have to assume the presidency of the acting Spanish Government.
At the same time, the Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, insisted on this message to Radiocable. “What we want is for the president of the Spanish Government, after this reflection that he has to do, to decide that the best thing is to tell the gang that he has not been able to with him”, he declared. “We can’t bend the pulse of the extremist audacity with lies, bluffs and lies to intimidate us. They can’t bend our pulse!” he demanded.
“I hope that the reflection process that the president is now carrying out will end with the announcement that continues”, confided Bolaños. For this reason, he did not want to speculate on the options that could be opened in the event that Sánchez finally chooses to announce his resignation on Monday. “I will not enter into any scenario, because I want the president of the Spanish Government to continue in what he does every day, which is to try to improve the situation in this country”, he reiterated. “Democracy deserves a president who has been legitimately and democratically elected after elections like those in July. The Spanish voted”, concluded the minister.
And both Montero and Bolaños categorically rejected that there is a political strategy or an electoral calculation behind Sánchez’s announcement, as the PP denounces.
Precisely, since the president’s move does not respond to political keys, but to personal ones, this is why the PSOE alleges that scenarios should not be advanced before the decision is announced. Beyond trying to avoid in every way that his main and best political and electoral asset throws in the towel prematurely.
Former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, always ready to help Sánchez in difficult times, made his voice heard immediately. “You must understand and respect the president, but I ask my colleagues and supporters to mobilize, we must defend and support Pedro Sánchez. We react to the insidiousness with democratic courage and not with giving up”, claimed Zapatero, also in Ser. “We can’t stay still or keep quiet,” encouraged Zapatero. With a direct message for the president: “Make it clear that it’s worth it, Pedro.”
The federations of the PSOE, and also the PSC, were immediately set in motion, and began to call extraordinary meetings of the executives or to spread communiques to communicate support for Sánchez.
And a rally of militants and sympathizers has already been called for Saturday in front of the socialist headquarters in Ferraz, “to support the president and Spanish democracy”, precisely on the occasion of the meeting of the party’s federal committee.
The appointment of the party’s highest body between congresses, scheduled for Saturday in Ferraz to approve the candidacies for the European elections on June 9, and accompany Salvador Illa to the Catalan elections on May 12, will be transformed into an act of support for Sánchez de all the territorial leaders.
The request that Sánchez not throw in the towel, in any case, goes beyond the socialist ranks. Several leaders of Sumar, partner of the PSOE in the government coalition, called to stand up. “This Government is worth it”, defended Íñigo Errejón. And Enrique Santiago warned that left-wing forces must unite against the right-wing in order to face the “aggression to democracy”.
