Thousands of Socialist Party supporters flocked from across Spain to a rally outside the party's headquarters in Madrid to call on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to stay in office after he surprised the country this week by saying he could resigned, reported Reuters.
On Wednesday, Sanchez said he would step down "for a few days" to assess whether he wanted to continue leading the government after his wife was investigated for corruption related to her business dealings. Sanchez said it was part of an ongoing smear campaign against him and his family by political opponents.
Sanchez denied the allegations against his wife, Begoña Gomez, and said he would announce a decision about his future on Monday.
"Prime Minister, stay, Pedro, stay. We are with you," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Maria Jesus Montero said at a meeting of the party's federal committee.
Outside the building, euphoric supporters thronged the streets and played pop hits calling for Sanchez to stay, many waving flags or wearing face paint.
"I hope he stays because Spain have to move forward with him. If he doesn't (do it), that scares me. We are afraid of what might come,“ Leonor Romero, 56, a Huelva city councilor, told Reuters.
"He should stay. I don't think he will resign. It will leave us orphans," said 74-year-old pensioner Jose Luis Trigo.
Opposition parties condemned the step taken by Sanchez.
"I urge the citizens not to become stupid. Spain has no problem, the one who has a legal problem is Sánchez, his government, his party and the circle around him. Allow them to resolve it," Alberto Nunes Feijo, leader of the conservative opposition Popular Party, told a meeting in Tarragona, in the autonomous region of Catalonia.
On Thursday, Madrid's prosecutor's office said it had filed a protest against a city court's decision Wednesday to hear a private complaint filed by a group of far-right activists against Gomez for alleged influence peddling and corruption.
Sanchez came to power in 2018, Reuters recalls.