“I have decided to continue, to continue even more strongly as head of the presidency of the Government of Spain,” Pedro Sánchez announced. A decision that he, he has highlighted, has previously informed the head of State, Felipe VI. Again against all odds, as is customary throughout his accelerated political career, Sánchez has settled in this way, in an institutional statement of just eight minutes delivered on the steps of the Moncloa palace, the five days of absolute uncertainty. which he himself precipitated when, last Wednesday, he opened the door to his resignation as president in the face of the “harassment and demolition operation” against his wife, Begoña Gómez, which he attributes to the right.
Sánchez has thanked “from the bottom of his heart” for the “shows of solidarity and empathy” that he has received in recent days, particularly from the PSOE, whose leadership and militancy issued unanimous and massive support last Saturday for him not to resign. “This social mobilization has decisively influenced my reflection,” the president acknowledged. The general impression in the PSOE, in view of the letter he published last Wednesday, was that he had already made the decision to throw in the towel.
So there is no resignation of the president, no acting Government, no motion of confidence, no early elections, nor any of the speculation to which Sánchez himself opened the door with his announcement last week. However, he has pointed out that his decision to remain in office “does not mean a full stop, it is a full stop.” “I guarantee it, I assume my commitment to work tirelessly, firmly and with serenity, for the pending regeneration of our democracy, and for the advancement and consolidation of rights and freedoms,” he stated.
Sánchez recalled the surprising letter to the citizens that he published last Wednesday on his social networks, in which he asked "whether it was worth enduring the harassment that my family has suffered for ten years in exchange for presiding over the Government of Spain." “Today, after these days of reflection, I have a clear answer,” he said in his appearance this Monday.
“If we all accept as a society that political action allows the indiscriminate attack on innocent people, then it is not worth it. If we allow partisan conflict to justify the exercise of hatred, insidiousness and falsehood towards third parties, then it is not worth it. If we allow the grossest lies to replace respectful and rational debate based on evidence, then it is not worth it,” Sánchez argued. “No matter how high it may be, there is no honor that justifies the unjust suffering of the people one loves and respects the most, and seeing how an attempt is made to destroy their dignity without the slightest foundation,” she said.
“I needed to stop and reflect,” he justified, and admitted that his letter to the citizens could have generated a climate of confusion, but he insisted that it was not due “to any political calculation.” “I have shown a feeling that is not usually admissible in politics. “I have acknowledged to those who seek to break me, not because of who I am, but because of what I represent, that it hurts to live in this situation, that I do not wish for anyone,” he highlighted. “Whatever our job, our job responsibility, we live in a society where we are only taught and required to keep moving at all costs.” “But there are times when the only way to move forward is to stop, reflect and decide clearly where we want to walk,” he justified.
And he has raised the dilemma that he wants to promote. “Either we say enough is enough or this degradation of public life will determine our future, condemning us as a country. It is true that I have taken this step for personal reasons, but they are reasons that everyone can understand and feel as their own, because they respond to core values of a supportive and family-oriented society like the Spanish one,” he argued. “This is not an ideological issue, we are talking about respect, dignity, principles that go far beyond political opinions and that define us as a society. This has nothing to do with the legitimate debate between political options. It has to do with the rules of the game,” he warned.
“If we allow deliberate hoaxes to direct the political debate, if we force the victims of these lies to have to prove their innocence against the most basic rule of our rule of law. If we allow the role of women to be relegated to the domestic sphere again, having to sacrifice her professional career for the benefit of that of her husband. If, ultimately, we allow unreason to become routine, the consequence will be that we will have done irreparable damage to our democracy,” Sánchez highlighted. “Demanding unconditional resistance from the leaders targeted by this strategy is putting the focus on the victims and not the aggressors,” she warned.
“The question is simple: do we want this for Spain? My wife and I know that this smear campaign will not stop. We have been suffering from it for ten years. It is serious, but it is not the most relevant thing,” she admitted. And he has assured: “We can handle it.”
The president has assured that “there is only one way to reverse this situation: for the social majority, as it has done these five days, to mobilize in a determined commitment to dignity and common sense, putting a stop to the politics of shame that "We have been suffering for too long, because this is not about the destiny of a particular leader, that is the least important thing, it is about deciding what type of society we want to be." “Our country needs to make a collective reflection that makes way for cleanliness, regeneration and fair play,” he demanded. Because, in his opinion, “we have been letting the mud colonize political life with impunity for too long, contaminated by toxic practices unimaginable just a few years ago.”
Although Sánchez has assured that these “evils that afflict us are by no means exclusive to Spain.” “They are part of a global reactionary movement that aspires to impose its regressive agenda through defamation and falsehood, hatred and appeal to fears and threats that do not correspond to science or rationality,” he explained. And she has settled: “Let's show the world how democracy is defended. Let's put an end to this mud in the only possible way: through collective, serene, democratic rejection, beyond acronyms and ideologies, which I am committed to leading firmly as President of the Government."
