Sawt Falasteen - Spanish PM keeps country guessing on his future

The 52-year-old Socialist leader, who has been in office since 2018, stunned Spain on Wednesday when he put his resignation on the line after a Madrid court opened a preliminary investigation into suspected influence peddling and corruption against his spouse Begona Gomez.

"I need to stop and think whether I should continue to head the government or whether I should give up this honour," he wrote in a four-page letter posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Sanchez said he would suspend all public duties until he announces his decision on Monday and the normally hyperactive premier has since remained out of sight and silent.

His absence was especially noticeable in Catalonia, where he had been scheduled to attend an event in Barcelona on Thursday to launch his Socialist party's campaign for regional elections there on May 12.

"We are with you Pedro!" said the head of the Socialist party in Catalonia, Salvador Illa, in one of the many demonstrations of support Sanchez has received from the left to try to convince him not to resign.

The court opened the investigation into Sanchez's wife in responds to a complaint from anti-corruption pressure group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), whose leader is linked to the far right.

The group, which has presented a litany of unsuccessful lawsuits against politicians in the past, said in a statement on Wednesday that it had based its complaint on media reports and could not vouch for their veracity.

- 'Feeling of disillusionment' -

While the court did not give details of the case, online news site El Confidencial said it focused on links Gomez had to Spanish tourism group Globalia when carrier Air Europa was in talks with the government to secure a huge bailout.

Air Europe sought the bailout after it was badly hit by plunging air traffic during the Covid-19 crisis.

At the time, Gomez was running IE Africa Center, a foundation linked to Madrid's Instituto de Empresa (IE) business school, which had signed a sponsorship agreement with Globalia in 2020.

Spain's public prosecutors office on Thursday requested the dismissal of the investigation, which Sanchez said was part of a campaign of "harassment" against him and his wife waged by "media heavily influenced by the right and far right".

The Socialists have scheduled a rally in support of Sanchez in Madrid on Saturday.

On the streets of Madrid, Mercedes Cano, a 69-year-old retired French teacher, said people were tired of political bickering.

"There's a general feeling of disillusionment, whether you're on the left or the right," she said.

- Soap opera -

The right-wing opposition has accused the prime minister of being irresponsible for putting the country on hold while he mulls over his decision.

"It's very clear to us that this is all a tactic... We know Pedro Sanchez and things with him always turn out like a soap opera," Cuca Gamarra, the number two of the main opposition conservative Popular Party, said on Friday.

"He is making us all wait and the country is at a standstill," she added.

If Sanchez decides to remain in office, he could choose to file a confidence motion in parliament to show that he and his minority government are still supported by a majority of lawmakers in the assembly.

If he resigns, an early election could be called from July -- a year after the last one -- with or without Sanchez at the helm of the Socialist party.

P.Tamimi--SF-PST