Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he will suspend public duties until next week to decide whether he wants to continue leading the government after a court launched a business corruption probe into his wife’s private dealings.Sanchez, who last year secured another term for his Socialist party as leader of a minority coalition government, said on Wednesday he would appear before the media on Monday, April 29 to announce his decision.
The shock announcement came after a Spanish court said earlier on Wednesday it was launching a preliminary investigation into whether Sanchez’s wife Begona Gomez committed a crime of influence peddling and corruption in business in her private dealings. Manos Limpias said Gomez used her influence as the wife of the prime minister to allegedly secure sponsors for a university master’s degree course that she ran.
Last year, he called a snap election after his Socialist party performed poorly in regional elections. After the PP won the most seats but failed to reach a majority in the July national election, he forged a controversial deal with smaller regional parties to govern that included an amnesty for Catalans who were involved in the 2017 independence push.