The partners save Sánchez but demand that he comply

MadridPedro Sánchez has asserted that he is a "clean politician" and, in doing so, has sought to turn the page on the doubts about the corruption surrounding the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). Many questions remain unanswered, such as whether he had any suspicions about José Luis Ábalos when he dismissed him as minister and secretary of the PSOE's organization in the summer of 2021. However, the Spanish president has asked his parliamentary allies for a vote of confidence, promising an anti-corruption plan and a "social shift" in the legislature. With varying degrees of nuance, his allies are giving him a chance because none of them have demanded his resignation or a vote of confidence—only the deputy from the Canary Islands Coalition—although he does not have a clear majority because Podemos has already positioned itself outside the investiture bloc and settled into an electoral framework. "The easiest thing would be to throw in the towel, but we don't do the easy thing, we do the right thing. We will continue moving forward, always forward," Sánchez emphasized in his appearance.

"I feel a deep sense of disappointment in myself and in someone I should never have trusted. But I also feel the certainty of being a clean politician and the pride of someone who leads an exemplary party," he asserted. "I know it's harder to believe than to believe," the head of the executive admitted when he insisted that he "was unaware of the corruption in which Ábalos and Cerdán could have been involved." In a quick summary, Sánchez summarized his relationship with his two former organization secretaries in the PSOE and revealed that in November 2024, he summoned Cerdán to the Moncloa Palace when the first rumors about his alleged involvement in the Koldo case surfaced. "He denied everything. That they were unfounded accusations. I believed him because I thought I knew the simple life he led in Madrid, also in his town in Navarre, and I had seen him work without any evidence to the contrary," he explained.

Sánchez apologized again and acknowledged that he considered calling elections. "But throwing in the towel is never an option," he asserted, and asked that his presidency be judged from a comprehensive and honest perspective. From there, he addressed his members: "I aspire to regain the trust of the groups that have supported the term. I know these are not easy days for the groups that supported the investiture, and that they are under pressure. I will rise to the occasion, satisfy their aspirations for regeneration, and fulfill the commitments I have to them." extensive corruption plan worked with the OECD, civil society experts and the executive's minority partner, Sumar.

Díaz: "I know you are honest."

The second vice president of the Spanish government, Yolanda Díaz, wanted to speak out on her platform—despite the death this Tuesday of her father, the trade unionist Suso Díaz—and thanked Sánchez for including ten proposals against corruption that she had put forward. The head of the executive overcame one of the first obstacles he faced in that appearance: maintaining Díaz's support, whose speech focused more on attacking the PP than on supervising the PSOE. "I know you are honorable, but the public is distressed by corruption and by the right-wing government. Today I take the floor on behalf of my father, who would not want the right to govern," the Minister of Labor emphasized, also calling for a boost to the social agenda. "The change of course must be decisive in democratic regeneration and towards the left," she demanded.

For the time being, Sánchez can also count on ERC. Their spokesperson, Gabriel Rufián, considered that "we must stay" if the corruption case is confined to "three clever people"—Koldo, Ábalos, and Cerdán—but if he grows older, he will withdraw his support to force elections. "There will come a point where you will not stop the right, where your permanence will not stop the right or the far right, but will mean that when you enter, you will do so forever. And we will not go through that," he warned. For Junts, Míriam Nogueras has also not announced any break with the PSOE, despite the party's insistence that her party "is not part of any bloc" and that Sánchez "is in an extension." The spokesperson for the pro-independence party has equated the two major parties in Spain and described an "unbreathable climate" in the Spanish capital, one that was not experienced in Catalonia during the Process. "You need this reunion. You have a serious problem of coexistence," she emphasized.

The Basque political parties have not broken their cards either, although the PNV did warn that Sánchez's explanations were insufficient. Its spokesperson, Maribel Vaquero, demanded that Sánchez provide sufficient details to "encapsulate" the Cerdán case and make it clear that he is limiting himself to the three individuals mentioned and, subsequently, "build a proposal around a majority to continue the legislature." "If not, he has three alternatives: a vote of confidence, resignation, or calling elections." "He's not going all out, but he does have a rough outline," she added. From EH Bildu, Mertxe Aizpurua acknowledged that the situation was "extremely delicate" due to the continuity of the legislature, but expressed greater concern that a hypothetical fall of this government would provoke the entry of "reactionary and recentralizing" forces. In this sense, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) They have called for "structural" measures against the right-wing tentacles that want to overthrow the plurinational majority.

Feijóo: "He doesn't laugh so much anymore."

There are revenges best served cold, and Alberto Núñez Feijóo used this quote to recall Sánchez's laugh during his failed investiture debate, when he mocked the PP leader for saying, "I'm not president because I don't want to be." "Remember the laughter? He doesn't laugh as much anymore," Feijóo retorted: "He's the way he is because it turned out to be a fraud, and what's killing him is that now everyone knows." The conservative president painted a portrait of a failed president, one whose mandate was born out of a "corrupt transaction"—the amnesty, "power through impunity"—and who is now tainted by classic corruption, the kind that brought an end to Mariano Rajoy. "They arrived at the Moncloa Palace and didn't get to work, they just got to work. They didn't come to clean anything up, but to dirty everything," he reproached him.