Pedro Sánchez does not resign, he only asks for forgiveness and refuses to call new elections – Pedro Sánchez does not resign as Secretary General of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party. The socialist leader has apologised to the Spanish people after the Guardia Civil report was published on Thursday, which led to the resignation of Santos Cerdán as Organisation Secretary. The President of the Government was deeply disappointed (and outraged) after learning of all the indications surrounding Cerdán: namely that he had manipulated the 2014 primaries that catapulted him into the General Secretariat and that he had been involved in the administration of bribes in exchange for public contracts. Sánchez admitted that he should not have trusted Cerdán, whom he has known for eleven years.
Sánchez has tried to take narrative control and project his authority. He assured that he had learned of the Guardia Civil report “this morning” and emphasised that it was only after reading it that he spoke to Cerdán personally. “He gave me his explanations, he defended his innocence, but it will have to be the justice system that decides,” he said, visibly affected. The President said that he takes on three political responsibilities: to act when a serious fact is known, to make statements, not to hinder the work of justice and to apologise to citizens. The leader of the social democrats announced an external audit to confirm that there are no irregularities in Ferraz’s asset management. In an extraordinary appearance from the Ferraz headquarters, convened only an hour earlier, the head of government and secretary general of the party announced the sudden resignation of Santos Cerdán, with whom he had spoken to ask for explanations.
The trigger is the Guardia Civil report, which, as Sánchez admitted, provides “very serious indications” of Cerdán’s involvement in the so-called Koldo case, the corruption plot that has already affected several officials of the former Ministry of Transport under the command of José Luis Ábalos. “I want to ask the citizens for forgiveness,” a visibly serious Sánchez said in a message also addressed to PSOE militants and supporters. “Until this morning I was convinced of Santos’ integrity,” he admitted, after conceding that rumours of a possible connection between Cerdán and the conspiracy had been circulating for “weeks and months”, albeit so far without concrete evidence; the same evidence demanded by the party itself.
With this decision, Sánchez distances himself from his confidant – the second to be dragged into the justice cesspool. It should be recalled that Cerdán is the architect of the negotiations with Sumar and Juants and has steered a large part of the party’s territorial strategy in recent years. “There is no such thing as zero corruption, but there must be zero tolerance when it occurs,” Sánchez said in a clear attempt to draw a clear line between his leadership and suspicions of a cover-up. In this sense, he announced two far-reaching measures: the carrying out of an external audit of the PSOE and a restructuring of the Federal Executive Commission, which will culminate in a Federal Committee on July 5 in Seville.
The political message Sánchez is trying to send is overwhelming: the leader of the PSOE wants to go on the offensive and nip any risk of contagion affecting the government in the bud. “It fills me with enormous indignation and deep sadness that an entire political project… can be influenced by the behaviour of a few,” he said. And although he admitted to being “disappointed”, he promised an “always energetic response”. The President wanted to close ranks and calm speculation. “There will be no elections until 2027,” he concluded, dismissing any doubts about a possible early election given the accumulated wear and tear: “Our political project is more necessary than ever.”
On the home stretch, he came across an internal message attributed to Santos Cerdán that questions the cleanliness of the 2017 primary process. “This comment disappoints me greatly,” he said, but defended the integrity of the process: “The primary processes are of absolute guarantee… This is a serious organisation, regardless of whether such an act can happen.”
With this appearance, Pedro Sánchez is trying to regain the initiative after a particularly difficult week for the PSOE. The break with Cerdán is painful but necessary to contain the wear and tear. In July, Ferraz will enter a phase of internal reconstruction with the Federal Committee as the horizon. Meanwhile, the President is fighting back, invoking his mandate and clinging to the narrative of transformation as a political shield. For now, the legislature continues. The earthquake shaking Ferraz not only leaves out one of the most influential cadres of Sanchismo, but also opens a period of internal instability in the midst of a complex parliamentary cycle in which the investiture partners are scrutinising every step. The PSOE is trying to shield itself. And Pedro Sánchez, to regain control.
The Chief Executive’s appearance before journalists was the first since April 29, when he gave a press conference at Moncloa Palace after the power outage that left all of Spain without electricity. During all this time, Sánchez had defended Cerdán against criticism from the opposition and even went so far as to accuse the PP of “defaming honest people.” At the government control session on Wednesday, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, asked him to say whether he continued to maintain his trust in the socialist organisation secretary, although Sánchez did not answer this direct question.
