Sánchez rejects early elections and challenges PP

After meeting with the PSOE leadership, Pedro Sánchez promised on Monday that the Spanish socialists will “stand up” to the corruption allegations involving the party, while rejecting the idea of ​​calling early legislative elections. “We will not cover up corruption in our ranks, no matter how painful it may be,” he said. The socialist challenged the opposition parties, which have been calling for his resignation, to present a motion of censure against the government.

“If they want to govern, they must present a motion of censure and tell Parliament and the citizens what model of country they want for Spain. They must explain to the Spanish people that a progressive coalition government legitimised by 179 deputies must resign because of an alleged corruption case that is still being investigated,” said the President of the Spanish government, quoted by El País .

The PSOE’s general secretary also guarantees that “at his own request” he will appear before the Spanish Congress as soon as possible to provide explanations to the deputies. After the meeting with the leadership of the Spanish socialists, Sánchez stated that the results of the external audit of the PSOE’s accounts will be made public — a promise he made to “eliminate any shadow of doubt” following the suspicions of corruption involving the party’s last two secretaries.

Corruption, electoral fraud, PSOE in check. The case that puts Pedro Sánchez's position at risk

A report by the Guardia Civil presented last week raised suspicions about José Luis Ábalos, Sánchez's former public works minister who was already suspected of corruption, and Santos Cerdán, a member of parliament and secretary of the PSOE party, who ended up resigning from the latter position last week. Both are believed to be central figures in a scheme in which they are suspected of charging high commissions in exchange for public works contracts, such as the construction of roads or railways.

Sánchez announced this Monday that a transition team will assume control over the PSOE's Organisation Secretariat, until the next meeting of the party's Federal Committee, which will be held on 5 July. Behind closed doors, at the meeting of the Spanish Socialists' leadership, the President of the Spanish government is said to have said, according to El País, that "the most reasonable thing is to confine the crisis to the Organisation Secretariat", the PSOE body that is the epicentre of the most recent suspicions of corruption in the party.

The transition team announced by the President of the Spanish government will aim to suggest drastic measures to restructure the structure of the PSOE and ensure that the party does not see its name involved in scandals like those that have recently come to light. The transition group will be made up of four socialist members who have no links to the previous composition of the Organising Secretariat, including the president of the PSOE, Cristina Narbona.

At the Federal Committee meeting in July, one of the items on the agenda will be the approval of a restructuring of this party body. The meeting of the PSOE's highest body was scheduled to take place in Seville, but after serious suspicions of corruption in the party became known, several leaders put pressure on the national leadership to hold the meeting in Madrid. Pedro Sánchez agreed and the Federal Committee will meet on 5 July at the PSOE's national headquarters on Ferraz Street in the Spanish capital.

Santos Cérdan submitted his voluntary resignation from the PSOE in writing on Monday morning, according to the Spanish press. This is also expected to be his last day as a member of the Spanish parliament, after having communicated his resignation to the Spanish Supreme Court.

Cérdan's departure has been handled differently than that of José Luis Ábalos, his predecessor as PSOE Secretary of Organization, who is considered number 3 in the party hierarchy. When the first suspicions of corruption involving him became known in February 2024, Ábalos refused to give up his seat as a deputy, and the PSOE suspended his membership of the party. This process was also resolved this Monday with the official expulsion of the former Minister of Public Works.