Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will announce his decision on his possible resignation at 11am, local time, an hour earlier than previously announced his office said on Monday morning. It will be a televised reading statement.
Sanchez, 52, surprised both foes and allies when he said on Wednesday he was taking several days away from public duty to consider quitting. He made his announcement on the same day a court said it would investigate his wife, Begona Gomez, for influence peddling and business corruption, allegations he said were false and orchestrated by his conservative opponents.
State broadcaster TVE said Sanchez went to the Zarzuela palace outside Madrid on Monday morning to speak to King Felipe VI without saying what they discussed. If there are fresh elections or a vote in parliament to swear in a new leader, they must involve the head of state. Key members of his Socialist (PSOE) government including Deputy Prime Minister Maria Jesus Montero and Santos Cerdan, a top official in his party, were seen arriving at the Moncloa palace in Madrid ahead of the announcement. (Reporting by Belén
He could resign, or carry on as prime minister, or he could submit to a parliamentary vote of confidence and resign only if he lost the vote. Another option would be to call a snap election on July 21, the earliest day allowed by the constitution. Thousands of supporters held rallies in Madrid at the weekend calling on Sanchez to stay on. The prime minister, 52, first came to office in 2018 and secured another term for the Socialists last year as leader of a minority coalition government.
Opposition parties have condemned Sanchez's move. "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," Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the conservative People's Party, told a meeting in the eastern city of Tarragona on Saturday.