Lobato is a victim of the “way of doing politics” of Sánchez and his team, based on “destruction” and “annihilation”

Lobato presents himself as a victim of the “way of doing politics” of Sánchez and his team, based on “destruction” and “annihilation”. This is expressed in the letter addressed to PSM activists, in which he clearly indicates that he does not believe in “the destruction of the adversary” nor in the way of “doing politics” that “the majority leaders” of the PSOE party did it.

Lobato made this decision, giving up on fighting the primaries he had been working towards for over a year, and allowed the personal profile he had cultivated against the opposition to wither. Moncloa.

Lobato’s decision rests on two fundamental pillars: continued, if silent, pressure from Ferraz’s leadership and the abandonment of some of his most loyal supporters within the Chamberí Group -the largest of Madrid’s socialist families- and within its own executive.

Regarding Ferraz And Moncloathe strategy was to remain silent and put pressure on the deputies and members of the team closest to Lobato to force him to leave the post of secretary general and not to run in the primaries.

Some even did it in public. This was the case of Francisco Martín, government delegate in Madrid, and very close to Lobato. “Forever friends,” the former secretary general described him a few months ago. Of course, today, in public, Martín asks for “loyalty” to the party and “more solid explanations”.

The same thing happened with Reyes Maroto, spokesperson for the PSOE of Madrid at City Hall. Although the relationship between them was not smooth, the couple brought them together to try to gain power in the regional elections. Now, and after the controversy, the former minister had also left it aside.

An interim manager

In the federal leadership of the PSOE, the news of the resignation came as a surprise. Of course, we celebrate his resignation: “We must assume the consequences of what we do.”

Most senior officials learned at the same time that he was publishing his letter, while they were still in a government control session at the Congress of Deputies this Wednesday.

According to several sources, Ferraz had taken no steps to explicitly pressure Lobato. In fact, Pedro Sánchez’s order had been to leave him in ignorance until after the federal congress in Seville, which is being held this weekend, and to begin, from Monday, the battle to wrest the secretary general of the PSM from him.

The sources comment that the candidacy of the Minister of Digital Transformation was in preparation, Oscar Lopezthinking that Lobato was not going to step down and that there was some expectation about the role he would play in the federal congress, where the Madrid baron was interested in debating issues such as regional financing.

From Ferraz, it is emphasized that it was probably internal pressure from the PSM or the palpable lack of support that pushed Lobato to resign. This vacuum created was particularly visible this Tuesday, without any prominent leader of the PSOE taking their side.

The party will now be run by a manager who runs Isaura Lealthe president of the PSOE of Madrid. However, this will be a short-term manager, who will be responsible for steering the process of regional congresses, which will begin next week.

activism

Lobato knew that his only asset (apart from the content of WhatsApp messages that could, supposedly, reveal a link between the prosecution and the leaks of Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s personal data) was activism. If he obtained more than 7,000 supports, he would once again become secretary general of the PSOE of Madrid against Ferraz.

Everything was in the hands of the 14,000 members who, according to the accounts of the current PSOE board of directors in Madrid, count. The problem is, since the news broke on Sunday, many of their supports have dropped.

The general secretary of the PSOE had been visiting all the small groups for more than a year, aware that, in the big squares, Ferraz’s pulse would be more difficult to thwart.

To get to know the PSM from the inside, it is important to start with the largest group in the entire party. That of Chamberí. It is also known as the Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba Group. With the name everything could clarify things. There was, however, a division between Ferraz and Lobato that became clearer this week.

The current president of the PSM, Isaura Lealeither Diego Cruzare two of Lobato’s relatives who, as the days went by, withdrew their support. This is confirmed by internal sources of the said group.

These gestures marked a before and after for Lobato, even if it is true that he continued to benefit from the support of heavyweights of this group, as is the case of the deputy Mar Espinarone of the most representative voices of the PSOE in Madrid in recent years and who, after passing through the City Hall, joined Lobato in the Assembly, where he supported him until the last minute.

After this square, the groups with the most members are found in what is called the red belt: Leganes, Fuenlabrada, Alcorcon, Getafe And Spoke They stand out as the five with the most weight.

In the case of Fuenlabrada and Getafe, with Javier Ayala And Sara Hernández At the front, Lobato’s rejection was more than known. They themselves have already declared that they would support an alternative to the PSOE secretary from Madrid and Ayala even tried to remove his position in previous elections.

In Leganés, having no leadership and being in opposition, the terrain is uncertain. Many families move into each group, and with the most optimistic results, Lobato hoped this spot wouldn’t be particularly difficult to fight for.

Another different thing is Parla or Alcorcón. Over there Ramon Jurado And Candelaria Testa They always played distractingly. Although there were public gestures towards Lobato, they did not support him in key moments.

In the noble zone by nature of the PP, the northwest, socialism does not have any great figures if we exclude what is today its most illustrious affiliate, Oscar Lopezwhich is part of the Las Rozas group.

With the loss of the red belt, the capital and the stronghold of the PP, Lobato was left with only two places where the scores could be settled: the Sierra – the border with Segovia and Guadalajara – and the Henares corridor.

Cities like El Atazar, where he inaugurated the political course in 2023, were an almost certain asset for him. The same thing happened in Soto del Real, his town, where he was mayor and “even those from Vox voted for him.”

But in the case of the Henares corridor, there is great internal complexity. Pilar Sánchez Acera, the one involved in the WhatsApp discord case, is one of the hands that rock the cradle in this area. So much so that it was, precisely, one of the essential pieces so that Javier Ayala did not win Lobato when Ferraz presented him as the party’s candidate.

The only bastion that Lobato had left in this territory and which publicly supported him until the end was Javier Corpamayor of San Fernando de Henares. The fact that he has now lost all this support (which Lobato also did not expect) has precipitated events within the PSM.