In the midst of the crisis due to reported cases of sexual harassment against the former advisor to the Prime Minister Paco SalazarPedro Sánchez broke his silence today in the House of Representatives. Within a day … Constitution, the head of the executive branch admitted, in an informal conversation with journalists, that “Responsibility” for the management undertaken for the case “It’s mine, first person.”. The leader of the Socialist Workers’ Party also bears the burden of the scandal because he is responsible for “ensuring the independence of the body.” This is your first response to this crisis.
However, Sanchez wanted to deny any “collusion” and returned the ruling to “Minor error in file processing speed. He repeated: “I accept the error personally,” immediately explaining that it was an “unintentional error” due to the preliminary nature of the anti-harassment committee – which was created last May – claiming that when the crisis occurred in July, “All responsibilities have been removed.” How can we question (the victims) if he is removed from all his membership positions? “We make the decisions and we were not complicit, but strong.”
Sanchez distances himself from the reported situations and maintains that he never witnessed anything similar during the political moments they shared together. “I found out about it because it was published,” he admitted.. In the face of the open internal crisis in his party, the president acknowledges “unrest,” but asserts that “there is confidence in the leadership, and that things were done well, even though we were not that fast.”
Regarding the possibility of going to the Public Prosecution, which is required internally in the party, the President believes that “The legislation is clear” and that the complainants are the ones who take the initiative. That is, the party’s position cannot be proactive, but rather one of accompaniment, support and assistance, and not drawing the attention of justice to the matter. Other sources within the government do not agree with this view and believe that once the internal procedure at PSOE is completed, “If everything that has been concluded is confirmed and the facts are correct, we will have to go to the prosecutor’s office.”. “When something is considered a crime, the party must bring it to the attention of justice,” they say.
“It was very poorly managed.”
The climate in the party remains deeply disturbing, and the government is beginning to recognize a reputational crisis. This awareness appears in his reaction and self-criticism, which was absent in the first response to the scandal. Government sources admit that “the matter was very poorly managed.” Those around the Senior Vice President explain that these “legal” issues end up being closely tied to deadlines, but they assume that “We did not accompany the victims properly and it could not have taken this long.”. “More speed is needed,” they decided.
They admit in the government, “We were not at the top.” Another senior official posits that “there were clear shortcomings.” “We were not diligent”Minister says. This series of statements shows a clear change in direction and that the socialist power centers appreciate the destabilizing potential this issue has for the party and the executive.