Defending himself against a series of cases that are rocking the government, the Spanish prime minister assured that his government and the ruling Socialist Party are the only defenders of feminism in the country.
“The commitment of the government and the Socialist Party to feminism is absolute,” the Socialist leader said at the start of a year-end press conference in Madrid, during which he traditionally took stock of government action.
Sánchez also defended the government and his party on another sensitive issue, that of corruption, where the image of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) and the government, as well as the prime minister’s personal image, have been hit hard by an accumulation of scandals.
Some of these corruption scandals affect Sanchez’s personal environment — specifically his wife and brother.
Sanchez: “We all make mistakes”
In an indication of the political weight of these cases, Sanchez began the press conference directly by approaching these two issues, admitting that they reflect the “spirit of public opinion”.
“Like the rest of the world, we’ve made mistakes,” he admitted, “but any progress in gender equality has been made by progressive governments,” he continued.
“We will not accept lessons from those who vote against this progress,” Sanchez added, referring to attacks by the right-wing and far-right opposition who accuse the left of hypocrisy towards women and feminism.
Sanchez’s statement is the strongest since allegations of sexual harassment have surfaced almost daily within the Socialist Party, a situation that prompted Madrid newspaper El Pais to headline its paper this weekend “The hardest hours of the Sanchez government.”
The sexual harassment scandals put the head of government in a very difficult position, who spent his entire political career as a champion of gender equality. Thus, he often says that his government is “the most feminist” in all of Spain’s history.
Complaints of indifference
Among the cases that have come to light in recent weeks, one involves a close associate of Sanchez at the Montclois Palace, the seat of government, Francisco Salathar who was struck off several months ago for “inappropriate behavior” of a sexual nature.
The case came to light when the women who accused him spoke to the press a few days ago about the lack of reaction from the Socialist Party for months when they first reported Salathar’s actions.
