A month ago, no one in the PSOE expected that the 41st Federal Congress, which opened this Friday in Seville, would revolve around corruption. Or not so much. However, the event, which had been proposed as a revival of the party, ended up transforming into an attempt by the famous “resistance” of the Pedro Sanchez against those who, according to the socialists who arrived in Seville, are conspiring against him.
The initial objective of this federal congress is now far away: to relaunch the project, update socialist ideologygive an image of unity and face the rest of the legislature – the Government is convinced that it will exhaust it – with renewed energy. Indeed, a congress had been planned like American conventions, with a festive atmosphere and style.
But reality does not allow this to be so. Far from talking about ideology and program, the various senior officials of the party had to end up addressing in public and private all the cases of corruption which plague the party.
According to Ferraz sources, there is a lot of unease due to the different information circulating about the President of the Government and his closest political and personal environment. Although they assure that they are not worried about what is happening, the truth is that in the circles of this federal congress nothing else has been talked about.
Other party sources, less aligned with Sánchez, acknowledge that the level of concern is high and that it even extends to activists. Even though there are things that are also considered offensive by the right, There are so many fronts and they are aiming so high that they think it is only a matter of time before something ends up seriously harming the PSOE..
The Deputy Secretary General of the PSOE and First Vice-President and Minister of Finance of the Spanish Government, María Jesús Montero, this Friday at the PSOE Congress.
Europe Press
According to these sources, there is less interest than in other congresses to enter the Executive of the party due to the situation of instability and the fear that it will end up burning those closest to Sánchez. Before, as they say, people were “fighting to get in.” Now that doesn’t happen anymore.
To put things in context, the federal congress began on the same day as the former general secretary of the PSOE in Madrid Juan Lobato has had to testify before the Supreme Court in a case that attempts to elucidate who or who committed revealing secrets by leaking an email from the couple’s lawyer. Isabel Diaz Ayuso The lawyer recognizes that Alberto González Amador committed two tax crimes.
También ha arrancado el mismo día que se ha conocido que Víctor de Aldama, empresario investigado en el caso Koldo, estuvo en Ferraz la noche electoral de noviembre de 2019. Y el mismo día que Javier Hidalgo ha comparecido en una comisión de investigación del Senado para hablar sobre el millonario rescate de Air Europa, concedido por el Gobierno de Sánchez.
Por si no fuera poco, el congreso ha empezado dos días después de que un juzgado de Badajoz haya llamado a declarar como investigados al hermano del presidente, David Sánchez, y al presidente de la Diputación de Badajoz y secretario general del PSOE en Extremadura, Miguel Ángel Gallardo.
Pasar a la ofensiva
En el PSOE hay una sensación de que hay que pasar a la ofensiva por todos estos asuntos, especialmente contra el PP, que aprovecha los frentes de corrupción para desgastar al Gobierno. “El problema aquí es que se dicen muchas cosas, pero nadie aporta pruebas. Estamos esperando a que vengan las pruebas de algo de lo que se ha dicho“, asegura un alto cargo de Ferraz.
El partido no descarta intentar tomar acciones legales contra el PP por reproducir discursos como el de Víctor de Aldama, que implicó a varios cargos del PSOE en prácticas corruptas en su reciente declaración en sede judicial.
“El aforamiento no es una barra libre para atacar al adversario”, dice el mismo alto cargo. “Se verá si se pueden tomar acciones legales. El problema es que en el PP se cuidan mucho en lo que dicen, creemos que lo dicen pensando en una respuesta y se amparan en que una persona ha dicho algo, como si no lo dijeran ellos”, añade.
Los siguientes pasos dependerán “de a cuánto más vayan ellos”, en referencia al PP. “Miguel Tellado [portavoz del PP en el Congreso de los Diputados] We know it will go further. But we have to see where they set the bar and that’s good to know,” he says.
The greatest proof that the congress is not what was expected was experienced in the first statements made by the first vice-president of the government, María Jesús Montero, and by the organizing secretary, Santos Cerdan.
The few questions he was asked focused on corruption and Montero ended up calling the opposition leader a “coup plotter” on two occasions. Alberto Nuñez Feijóotrying to present the image of a government under siege by forces that do not accept the election result.
