Pedro Sanchez finally broke his silence for Paco Salazar casewhich affects a collaborator very close to the president. Salazar was in his narrowest circle from 2017 until June of this year. eldiario.es He revealed complaints of harassment by several women against the Andalusian politician. In a group in Congress and in a serious tone, Sánchez “personally” admitted responsibility for the “mistake” made by the PSOE in not contacting the victims for six months, even though two of them registered their complaints in the channel where he was able to do so. The President emphasized that the PSOE cannot go to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in this case, as Adriana Lastra, who was part of the leader’s hard core, claimed, because it is not legally possible because these are anonymous complaints. He stressed that the victims are the ones who do this, but the Socialist Workers’ Party will now accelerate the entire file and help them if they want to do so.
Sanchez admitted that things went wrong, but insisted on several occasions that there was no ill intent at all, let alone “collusion” with Salazar, with whom he confirmed he no longer had any dealings since his departure from La Moncloa. In another group, Vice President María Jesús Montero admitted that the case was “handled very poorly” because the party “did not accompany the victims properly.”
This was the first time that Sánchez had spoken publicly with the press about this matter, which again directly affects his credibility because Salazar – like José Luis Abalos or Santos Cerdán before him – was a person of great trust. The president acknowledged the “discomfort” he felt and the blow it represented, but insisted that he did not know anything about this sexual behavior, and confirmed that he found out about it from the press.
Sánchez has insisted on the continuation of the Legislative Council until 2027, and he is convinced that this can be redirected because the PSOE is now running it properly, in contact with the victims, and above all because he believes it still has a majority of members who do not want elections and want to move on. Pedro Sanchez added that there are no talks with Juntes – the independents do not want to be told otherwise under any circumstances – but there is a clear list of non-compliance which the government is now trying to rectify, so he hopes he can redirect the relationship.