TEXT-Spanish prime minister Sanchez suspends public duties: his full letter

You may already know, and if not I am informing you now, that a Madrid court has opened preliminary proceedings against my wife, Begona Gomez, at the request of an ultra right-wing organization called Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), to investigate alleged crimes of influence peddling and business corruption. It appears the judge will summon the heads of two online news outlets that have been publishing on the matter so they may testify.

Below is the full text of the letter Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez published on social media on Wednesday as he said he would suspend his public duties. Letter to citizens:

Although it is not customary for me to address you by letter, the seriousness of the attacks against myself and my wife, as well as the need to give a calm response, make me think this is the best way to express my opinion. So I thank you for taking a little time to read these lines. You may already know, and if not I am informing you now, that a Madrid court has opened preliminary proceedings against my wife, Begona Gomez, at the request of an ultra right-wing organization called Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), to investigate alleged crimes of influence peddling and business corruption.

It appears the judge will summon the heads of two online news outlets that have been publishing on the matter so they may testify. In my opinion, these are outlets with marked right-wing and ultra right-wing leanings. Begona will, as is logical, defend her honour and collaborate with the judiciary in every way necessary to establish that these seemingly scandalous facts have no basis in reality.

In fact, Manos Limpias' complaint is based on the alleged information provided by that group of ultra right-wing outlets mentioned above. I underline that the information is alleged, because since its publication, we have been denying these falsehoods and Begona has taken legal action against those same outlets so that they correct what we maintain is spurious information.

This strategy of harassment and destruction has been going on for months. That is why I am not surprised by Mr Feijoo's and Mr Abascal's over-reaction. In an outrage as serious as this one, both are key collaborators, together with the ultra right-wing Manos Limpias organization. In fact, it was Mr Feijoo who brought the case before the Conflict of Interests Office, requesting I be barred from public office for five to 10 years.

The request was twice shelved by the office, whose officials were later dismissed by leaders of the PP and Vox. Later, they used their conservative Senate majority to promote an investigation commission, as they say, to shed light on the facts of the matter. Of course, the case was missing the judicial element. This is the step they have now taken.

In short, this is an operation of harassment and destruction by earth, sea and sky with the intention of weakening me politically and personally by attacking my wife. I am not naive. I know that Begona is being accused not because she has done something illegal - they know this isn't the case - but because she is my wife.

I am also fully aware that the attacks are not against me personally but rather what I represent: a progressive political option, backed in election after election by millions of Spaniards, based on economic progress, social justice and democratic revival. This fight began years ago. First, we defended the political autonomy of our organization that best represents the progressive Spain, the Socialist Party. We won that struggle.

Second, after the move to censure the successive electoral victories of 2019, the sustained attempt to de-legitimize the progressive government coalition, in the heat of the ignominious cry "Que te vote Txapote!" (Let Txapote vote for you - an anti-Sanchez slogan referring to a former leader of the ETA Basque separatist group, which Spain classifies as terrorist.) Even then they could not break us. The last episode took place at the general elections of July 23, 2023. The majority of Spanish people voted for progress, allowing the re-election of the progressive coalition government, and against the coalition government of Mr Feijoo and Mr Abascal, which conservative media and pollsters had predicted.

Democracy spoke, but the right and ultra right-wing, once more, did not accept the electoral result. They knew that a political attack would not be enough and now they have crossed the line of respect of a president's family life, with an attack on his personal life. Shamelessly, Mr Feijoo and Mr Abascal, alongside the interests which propel them, have set in motion that which the great Italian writer Umberto Eco called "the mud machine." This is, trying to dehumanize and de-legitimize a political adversary though facile and scandalous accusations.

This is how I read the situation our beloved country is living through: a coalition of right-wing and ultra right-wing interests that do not tolerate the reality of Spain, that do not accept the verdict of the ballot box, and that are prepared to sling mud in order to: first, cover up their own blatant corruption scandals and inaction before these; second, to hide their total lack of political project beyond insult and disinformation; and third, to use all means at their disposal to personally and politically destroy their political adversary. This is a coalition of right-wing and ultra right-wing interests that extends the length and breath of the major Western democracies, and to which, I guarantee, I will always respond with reason, truth and good manners.

At this point, I legitimately ask myself, is it all worth it? Honestly, I don't know. This attack has no precedent, it is so serious and so crude that I need to stop and reflect with my wife. Often we forget that politicians are people too. And I am not ashamed to say that I am a man deeply in love with my wife, who is powerless against the mud they sling at her day after day. I need to stop and reflect. I need to urgently answer the question of whether this is worth it, despite the mud into which the right-wing and ultra right-wing are trying to transform politics. Whether I should continue to lead this government or resign from this high honour.

Despite the caricature that right and ultra-right wing politics and media have tried to make of me, I have never been attached to the office. I am attached to duty, to political compromise and to public service. I don't just pass through the job, I assert the legitimacy of these high responsibilities in order to transform and move forward the country I so love. All of this brings me to tell you that I will keep working, but that I will cancel my public agenda for a few days in order to reflect and decide which path to take. Next Monday, April 29, I will appear before the media and announce my decision.

Thank you for your time. Sincerely,

Pedro Sanchez (Compiled by Sarah Morland, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)