Government Notes Decision By Pedro Sanchez To Consider Future
The Government says it notes the decision taken by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to consider his future and make an announcement on 29th April.
A statement from the Government follows below:
This is obviously a personal matter and he has made it clear that it revolves around the alleged targeting of family members by the Spanish right and extreme right. It is too early to tell whether this will have any impact on the ongoing negotiations to secure a treaty for the future relationship of Gibraltar with the European Union, as the actual decision has not yet been taken.
However, Prime Minister Sanchez has made a very valid point that sometimes there is a tendency to forget that politicians are people too, with feelings, families and children.
This applies across Europe and in Gibraltar as well.
The Chief Minister said: “I feel great personal sympathy for Pedro Sanchez. I have had to suffer personal attacks on my family and closest friends who have been attacked simply because they were members of my family and close friends. That is the most unacceptable part of modern politics. It destroys families and personal relationships and deeply affects personal interaction of politicians with loved ones. In Gibraltar today we are not immune from that politics and the particularly unedifying and cowardly practice of persecuting lies about senior politicians through anonymous profiles on social media. I have, myself, previously sued Manos Limpias and Snr Bernal, beaten them in Court, had an award of damages against them and enforced it, leading to the receipt of monies from them by way of remedy for the lies that they told about me. I therefore send Pedro Sanchez my full, personal solidarity and I encourage him to stand and fight against the politics of personal vilification which the right wing has made its own.”
