It’s published update
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for forgiveness Thursday after an intimate confidant of the Socialist Party was investigated for allegedly participating in the kickback scheme.
The damages case was the latest legal scandal, with none of which exceeding the preliminary investigation stage.
Sanchez himself has not been accused of fraud.
“I would like to ask the public for forgiveness in the general public because the Socialists and myself should not have trusted him,” he said.
Sánchez spoke hours later after the Spanish Supreme Court said Cerdán was suspected of being involved in alleged kickback schemes for government contracts.
It was part of an ongoing investigation that had already pointed out the participation of another former minister in the Sanchez government.
Seldan was the third Socialist official until he resigned on Thursday.
“I’ve known Santos Serdan since 2011 and I worked with him with arms crossed,” he said.
Speaking at Madrid’s Socialist Party headquarters, Sanchez repeatedly asked the Spanish people for forgiveness, saying he learned of the corruption charges against Serdan a few hours ago.
Sanchez said Seldan defended his innocence.
The act of public appeal by Sánchez comes about 14 months after a judge took a five-day leave to consider his political future when he began an investigation into his wife, Begoña Gómez.
Instead of resigning, he said he would fight, denounced what he called the “Smear Campaign” by media outlets along the right-wing political groups.
On Thursday, Spanish leaders said they would order an external audit of Socialist Party accounts, but he refused to call early elections as his political opponents have been demanding for months.
“This is not about me or the Socialist Party, so there will be no elections until 2027. It is about projects that will bring positive change to the country,” Sanchez said.
Despite leading a minority government, Sanchez said he is confident he will be able to finish his four-year term. He has so far maintained support for junior members of the government and small regional and left-wing parties in the parliament.
“There’s no crisis in my government,” Sanchez said.
As a secretary to the Socialist Party organization, Serdan held the third strongest position in the Prime Minister’s Party.
Shortly after the court made public that there were ample indications that Cerdán was involved in the alleged kickback scheme, Cerdán waived seats in Congress and his party posts.
Although not a minister by any means, Serdan was charged with sensitive political negotiations in late 2023, including important consultations between the socialists and the Catalan segregation party who allowed Sanchez to form a new government.
One of Europe’s longest-serving leaders, Sánchez, 53, has shown droit negotiation skills to keep him in power since 2018, when he led Spain’s only unsuccessful move against his conservative popular party predecessor.
This week, the Spanish Supreme Court announced that prosecutors in the country will be on trial for allegations that they leaked confidential information in a tax fraud case involving the boyfriend of Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the Conservative Head of the Madrid region and one of Sanchez’s main political rivals.
Last Sunday, tens of thousands of people protested in Madrid against Sanchez at a rally organized by a popular party under the slogan “Mafia or Democracy.”
