Spanish PM Sanchez says he will not quit over anti-graft probe of his wife

April 29 (UPI) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday ruled out quitting his leadership following five days of uncertainty triggered by the launching of a preliminary anti-graft probe of his wife.

Sanchez said he had been persuaded by the outpouring of public support he had received after announcing Friday that he was suspending all public duties to consider his position.

"I have decided to remain prime minister," he said in a national address in which he condemned the accusations against his wife, Begona Gomez, as a smear campaign by right-wing media organizations.

"Thanks to this mobilization, I have decided to continue leading the presidency."

Sanchez said if attacking innocent people became a given in politics then it was no longer worth it and that no position, no matter how lofty, warranted exposing your loved ones to abuse.

"This isn't about the destiny of one leader -- it's about deciding what kind of society we want to be. Our country needs this self-reflection. We have let the mud soil our public life for too long," he said.

Demonstrations calling on Sanchez not to quit took place across the country over the weekend including 10,000 people outside the headquarters of his Socialist Party in Madrid.

The allegations of influence peddling and corruption leveled by Miguel Bernad's "Clean Hands" self-styled trade union, which has links to Spain's far right and a reputation for speculative criminal complaints against progressive figures, triggered an a judicial inquiry Wednesday.

The so-called "people's accusation" focuses on Sanchez' links to private companies that won government contracts or received state funding but the Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Madrid almost immediately called for the complaint to be dismissed saying there was no evidence any crime had been committed.

Sanchez, whose Socialist Party government has three years left to run, has been the target of previous attacks from the far-right, notably accusing him of undermining the rule of law in an amnesty deal with Catalan separatists charged with sedition over an illegal independence referendum in 2017.

The conservative opposition People's Party and the far-right Vox accused him "playing the victim" with the allegations against his wife even as ruling socialists and other leftist political groups have rallied around Sanchez.

Leaders from around the world have also expressed solidarity with Sanchez including President Gustavo Petro of Colombia and President Lula da Silva of Brazil.