The British weekly The economist published a very critical report on the 11 months of Pedro Sanchez at the head of the government in this legislature. The newspaper, of liberal ideology, had praised him on other occasions, which allowed the PSOE to boast of the international leadership of its leader.
On this occasion, The economist title: “Pedro Sánchez clings to power at the expense of Spanish democracy.” “Its coalition executive governs in a minority at the whim of radical Catalan and Basque nationalists, and to the detriment of the quality of Spanish democracy and its institutions,” he adds.
Although most of the article is devoted to describing Sánchez’s parliamentary weakness and his concessions to pro-independence parties, it also echoes the case of alleged corruption affecting his wife, Begoña Gomez.
“The prime minister’s wife is under judicial investigation. She denies any wrongdoing and Sánchez says she is a victim of political persecution. But many wonder how she got academic positions for which she did not is obviously not qualified”, underlines the weekly.
The article, illustrated with a close-up of Sánchez with a tense face, describes “apparently ill-advised” the action taken by Begoña Gómez in the case which led to her indictment: ” She signed a letter of support for a friend who was applying for a public contract. “
He also recalls that Sánchez “instructed the public prosecutor to prosecute the judge who is investigating his wife.”
Only amnesty
Concerning amnesty, the article emphasizes that it is “the only important measure that the government managed to approve in Parliament during his ten months in office. “He failed to get this year’s budget approved and it is unlikely that he will succeed next year,” he adds.
Not long ago, in November 2023, The economist came to Sánchez’s defense to assure in an editorial that “he is not the amoral fraudster” described by his political opponents in Spain. But even then he was wary of an amnesty that “makes many socialists uncomfortable.”
“Now he is about to offer another concession to Catalan nationalism“, continues the report published this Thursday. “Sánchez promised Esquerra, another separatist party, what is equivalent to the fiscal sovereignty of Catalonia, one of the richest regions of Spain”, which, underlines the The weekly, “like less money for the common treasury, raised more complaints than the amnesty itself.”
The economist describes Sánchez as “a cunning and ruthless strategist” and assures that he refused to form a grand coalition with the PP “that many voters preferred” in order to “move forward with the support of eight different parties”.
“None of this means he is in imminent danger. Overthrowing the Spanish prime minister requires mustering a parliamentary majority for an alternative, a more difficult challenge than simply winning a vote of no confidence in Parliament, as happens in many other countries,” he emphasizes. .
A divided opposition
Let us recall at this point that “Sánchez’s greatest asset” is that he faces a “divided opposition.” “Feijoowho was a brilliant regional president in Galicia, struggled on the national scene. Even if Vox is slowly declining, the PP’s possible dependence on its parliamentary votes encourages other parties to turn away from it,” he adds.
Given the evolution of the political situation in Catalonia, the weekly welcomes the pardons, because “they put an end to the separatist agitation”. “But this goes further than many observers consider reasonable,” he immediately adds. “The fiscal nature of the amnesty (which applies to both rioters and politicians) and its narrow approval, with virtually no public debate, contradicts the recommendations of the Venice Commission.”
In support of Sánchez’s leadership, the report also includes the appointment of politicians to “so-called independent” positions, and cites the cases of the Constitutional Court and the Bank of Spain.
To its credit, the British weekly highlights the increase in the minimum wage, the reduction in temporary contracts and the good development of employment and the economy in general.
