The President of the Government and candidate for re-election for the PSOE, Pedro Sánchez, has publicly defended Fernando Grande-Marlaska and has assured that, along with the late Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, he is the "best Minister of the Interior" in Spanish democracy.
In an interview granted to RTVE on the program El perro andaluz, Sánchez was asked about the responsibilities of Fernando Grande-Marlaska and about the calls for resignation that arose after the police charges recorded during the general strike on November 11.
The head of the Executive has maintained that the Government respects the right to strike, which he has described as "constitutional", although he has also stressed the need to protect the safety of citizens. "Sometimes it is difficult to reconcile," he said, before recalling that there is an open investigation by Fernando Grande-Marlaska regarding what happened and that, he said, the Ministry of the Interior did not give that order.
In that context, Pedro Sánchez has denied that the State security forces and bodies act differently in the face of "far-right demonstrations" and has defended the professionalism of the Police. According to him, the fact that "inadequate or disproportionate behaviors" have occurred in some actions does not "in any way" tarnish the work of the security forces, who, in his words, "fight tooth and nail in very complicated circumstances".
"He is my left or right apple of my eye"
Asked directly about the situation of the Minister of the Interior, Pedro Sánchez has redoubled his support for Fernando Grande-Marlaska, whom he has defined as his "left or right apple of my eye". The President of the Government has placed him at the level of Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba and has stated that both are "light years away" from the former PP minister Jorge Fernández Díaz.
Furthermore, Pedro Sánchez has described Fernando Grande-Marlaska as an "upright man", dedicated to his work and determined to do things well in a ministry he has described as "always complex". The president added an irony about the parliamentary disapprovals of the minister and joked that, in his Government, "here, the one with the most disapprovals gains points".
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