MADRID - Thousands of Socialist Party supporters travelled from across Spain for a rally in Madrid on April 27 to call on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to stay on, after he stunned the country this week by saying he might quit the premiership.
Mr Sanchez said on April 24 he would step back "for a few days" to decide whether he wants to continue leading the government after a court launched a business corruption probe into his wife's private dealings. He said this was part of a sustained campaign of slander against him and his family by political opponents.
Mr Sanchez denies the allegations made against his wife, Ms Begona Gomez, and said he will announce his decision on his future on April 29.
"Prime Minister, stay, Pedro, stay. We are with you," Maria Jesus Montero, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasury Minister, told a meeting of the federal committee of the Socialist Party at its Madrid headquarters.
Outside, euphoric supporters thronged the streets and played popular pop songs urging Mr Sanchez to stay, with many waving flags or with their faces painted.
Some 12,500 supporters joined the rally, according to the Spanish government.
"I hope he continues, because Spain has to continue with him. If not, it scares me. We are afraid of what could come," Ms Leonor Romero, 56, a councillor from Huelva, southern Spain, told Reuters.
"He must continue. I think he is not going to resign. He will leave us orphans," Mr Jose Luis Trigo, 74, a pensioner, said.
Opposition parties have condemned Mr Sanchez's move.
"I ask all citizens not to be fooled. Spain does not have a problem, the one who has a judicial problem is Sanchez, his government, his party and his circle. Let them solve it,” Mr Alberto Nunez Feijoo, the leader of the opposition conservative People's Party, told a meeting in Tarragona in Catalonia.
Madrid's prosecuting authority said on April 25 it was appealing an April 24 decision by a city court to look into the private complaint laid by an activist group linked to the far-right against Ms Gomez over alleged influence peddling and business corruption.
Mr Sanchez came to power in 2018. REUTERS
