Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is likely to resign after his wife Begona Gomez faced graft charges. The PM said he was "reflecting" on the possibility of resigning, according to an AFP report.
The Spanish PM took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) where he stated, "I need to stop and think" in order to decide “whether I should continue to head the government or whether I should give up this honour.” Sanchez announced on the post that a decision will be made Monday. The premier suspended his schedule until then.
What are the charges against the Spanish PM's wife Gomez?
- On Wednesday, April 24, a Madrid court revealed that it had "opened an investigation into Begona Gomez for the alleged offence of influence peddling and corruption." The probe was in response to a complaint raised by Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), an anti-corruption pressure group. The leader of Manos Limpias reportedly has links to far-right groups.
- Socialist premier Pedro Sanchez alleged that the complaint was based on "non-existent" facts. He launched a scathing attack at the conservative, far-right opposition and media, accusing them of running a campaign of "harassment" against his wife.
- The probe agency is investigating the associations of the Spanish PM's wife with several private companies that received government funding or received public contracts, Spanish online news site El Confidencial reported.
- As per reports, Begona Gomez has been linked with Spanish tourism group Globalia, which owns Air Europa.
- Reports also claimed that Begona Gomez had met with Javier Hidalgo, Globalia's CEO, twice when the carrier was in talks with the government to secure a huge bailout. During the Covid-19 crisis, Globalia was badly hit by the falling air traffic.
"I am not naive. I am aware that they are bringing charges against Begona, not because she's done anything illegal, because they know full well that's not true, but because she's my wife," AFP quoted the Spanish PM as saying in the letter posted yesterday.