One of the crises on which the PSOE had been counting for several months exploded in its face in advance. The decision of the Castilla y León party to open a primary process, before the Federal Congress at the end of November, met with the categorical refusal of Ferraz and opened the canopy of thunder. And this isn’t the first fire he’s faced. Pedro Sanchez within his party.
On Thursday, the regional leadership of the PSOE of Castilla y León voted overwhelmingly in favor of holding the primaries between November 9 and 16, during which the current secretary general of this community, Luis Tudancahoped to strengthen his leadership.
But Madrid stopped it in 24 hours by canceling the primaries, arguing that no more melons should be opened until the Seville Congress, which will be held from November 29 to December 1, and of which Pedro Sánchez will be president. anointed by acclamation.
The general secretary of Castilla y León is among the regional leaders who could be on the line. The PSOE has never governed this community since 1987 —despite winning seats in the penultimate 2019 elections—but Tudanca continues to benefit from internal support and There is also no clear candidate. happen to him.
Thus, after the imposition of Ferraz, a handful of leaders from Castile and León came to defend him in succession. The most energetic —and perhaps also the most cumbersome— It was the deputy Andrea Fernández, at the time very close to Sánchez.
“All my support”, responded on the social network X to a tweet from Tudanca. “It is unacceptable for the interpretation of a rule to vary according to needs. It is unacceptable that what are described in other cases as “mud machines” are used to impose a story. We don’t want PSOE in the service of our thing Castilian and Leonese,” he continued.
The spokesperson for the PP in Congress, Miguel Telladoretweeted this comment and Andrea Fernández responded by clarifying that she was not referring to the PSOE mafia but to the “media that supports and supports the PP in Castilla y León, guaranteeing a status quo corrupt [sic]”.
Beyond the confusion of her messages, it is clear that the socialist MP is not at the head of the national leadership of her party.
Since you close the comments, I will respond to you on my wall. Don’t use me for your trash politics. The mafia that I point out is precisely the media that supports and supports the PP in Castilla y León, guaranteeing a corrupt status quo.
—Andréa Fernández. 🇪🇺 (@afernb) October 5, 2024
Nor does it seem to be the same for Ander Gil, former president of the Senate, who showed his support for Tudanca on social networks; or the Organizing Secretary of the PSOE in Castilla y León, Ana Sanchezwho called Ferraz’s decision “nonsense” and demanded that activists be able to vote.
A rapid primary process, like that proposed by Tudanca, could be interpreted as an attempt to prevent an alternative candidate from running promoted from Madrid, which does not officially exist today. Although the discussion has moved to a legal aspect, since in Castilla y León it is understood that internal statutes do not prevent opening a process of this type before the Federal Congress.
Ferraz’s decision, however, is imposed by force and without possibility of response, since the cancellation of the primaries is not usable. Different members of the Government tried to defend him this Saturday, but they were not very thorough in their explanations either.
“Federal leaders have made a reasonable decision that the territorial conventions will take place later. [del Congreso federal]. “It is time to talk about the PSOE, it will be time to talk about the federations at the territorial and autonomous level,” declared the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Felix Bolanosbefore speaking at the La Toja Forum.
Aragon and Castile-La Mancha
The open fire in Castilla y León is added to the usual barons reviews: the Aragonese Javier Lamban and Castilian-Manchego Emiliano García-Page. The situation is particularly sensitive in Aragon, where the party must also organize primaries to replace the current secretary general, Javier Lambanwho will not stand for election.
His criticism of the government’s territorial policy, with amnesty or territorial financing as key themes, became untenable by the time Lambán ceased to be president of Aragon in 2023. His succession is already underway with the Minister of Education, Pilar Alegría, in all areas.
It is precisely this protection that Lambán lost that protects Emiliano García-Page. His opposition to Sánchez’s relations with his partners has become a permanent demand of the national leadership, but no one in Ferraz plans to take a step while he is one of the rare regional presidents it remains for the party.
Although there are more territories where internal processes could be opened in the coming months. One of the most likely is Madrid, where Juan Lobato He will most likely face another Ferraz-sponsored bid.
Madrid and Andalusia
Lobato, general secretary in Madrid since 2021, was a young bet. But three years later, it has not finished taking off, its leadership remains very weak and his opposition fails to erode the regional president, Isabel Diaz Ayuso.
The situation is different in Andalusia, since Juan Espadas He is also in a weak situation, but there are no alternative candidates so far and Ferraz does not seem to be in a hurry to find them either.
The PSOE lost its traditional source of votes, to the detriment of the Juanma Morenoconsolidated as one of the strongest values of the PP.
Another regional divergence comes from Extremadura, although its current secretary general, Miguel Angel Gallardowas elected only six months ago in a primary in which he defeated the official candidate.
This is why the national leadership of the PSOE is trying to contain the friendly fire from different territories, with Catalan financing in the background, although the problems are starting to boil over. The last one comes from Castile and León, where it was not planned to open the debate for a few months.
