The 1990s were a period for the Aragonese PSOE so full of battles, scandals, knife attacks – in a figurative sense – and even espionage between colleagues that Enrique Múgica went so far as to call the party the “Beirut of Spanish socialism”. Without reaching these limits, the Aragonese formation is currently maintaining a trajectory that threatens to transform the storm into a deluge of unpredictable consequences. Thus, the Aragonese PSOE finds itself facing a dilemma that will mark its coming years: either it is capable of agreeing on an orderly succession to the current secretary general, Javier Lambán, or it is staring into the abyss.
This is a point on which all the socialist families agree. Where they diverge, logically, is on which side the balance should tip towards the Regional Congress, scheduled for the end of February and for which no one has yet applied to replace Lambán.
The last event – and one of the most dramatic – that marked the current situation of the Aragonese PSOE was the negotiation of a fiscal pact between the PSC and the ERC in Catalonia. Lambán was very critical of this agreement from the beginning and this was reflected in the Regional Executive in August: the Aragonese became the first – and only for now – federation to explicitly reject the content of the Catalan pact. It did so unanimously, but because the representatives of the Upper Aragonese federation chose to abstain from the vote.
The socialist group of the Cortes of Aragon managed to insert on the 4th in the plenary session of the Autonomous Chamber a non-legislative proposal of “rejection of the establishment of a singular and differentiated financing model for Catalonia”. The municipal group did the same in the City Council of Zaragoza.
This angered Ferraz, who sent a letter to the Aragonese PSOE urging it to reverse these initiatives. To which it accepted, but not for this reason but because it agreed with the PP and PAR – who had included similar proposals in plenary session – its withdrawal to negotiate a common position between the Aragonese parties.
The municipal group of Zaragoza also agreed with this, but not the PSOE of Upper Aragon in the plenary session of the Provincial Council of Huesca, which maintained an initiative in the opposite direction: requesting “single funding for Aragon” with which, by extension, approved the negotiation in Catalonia.
In the meantime, the Federal Committee meeting took place and, with it, new fireworks. Lambán maintained his critical line towards the singular Catalan financing, which he described as “unconstitutional” and “absurd”. He received a response both internally and externally from the provincial secretary of the PSOE of Upper Aragon, Fernando Sabés, who criticized the “tone and constant affront” of the leader of Ejeano towards Ferraz.
Just 48 hours later, the Provincial Executive of Huesca unanimously approved the holding of a regional party commission to open a “dialogue process” for the replacement of Javier Lambán. This statement was harshly contested in a joint statement by the federations of Zaragoza and Teruel, which accused the Alto Aragonese of “weakening the socialists at a crucial moment.”
Call for calm
In conclusion, Lambán himself published a letter to the militants on Friday in which he called for calm and asked to combine the “debate of ideas” with “unity” in the party.
So far, the latest facts. And the question that arises is whether this is a temporary impasse or whether it is just the prelude to other clashes. Both sectors – the surroundings of Lambán, with the leaders of Zaragoza and Teruel at their side, and that of the Provincial Secretariat of Upper Aragon – are publicly trying to avoid new fires, even if internal problems persist.
This week it was learned that on Thursday, in Zaragoza, members critical of the party’s position would meet at the socialist headquarters of Condé Aranda. One of its representatives explained without giving his name that they are members “without organic positions” who only want to “debate”, with their “disagreement with the line supported by the party” as the common thread.
The main criticism usually levelled at Javier Lambán – and not only in this unrepresentative sector of Zaragoza – is that he “focuses too much on issues such as amnesty and quotas” and, on the contrary, “does not focus on opposing Jorge Azcón.
From the PSOE of Upper Aragon, they avoid entering into new wars and refer to their statements of recent days: “We believe that the best solution is that the succession is agreed between the three territories and also with Ferraz, without clashes”, they emphasize. And they blame the media for a “bad” interpretation of the agreement of the Provincial Committee: “We have not asked Lambán to leave now, but rather that the renewal be done in unity and consensus.”
Critical voices towards the PSOE in Upper Aragon
But also within the federation of Upper Aragon, voices are being raised to demand a change in the decisions of its leadership. These critical voices, which avoid making their discomfort public to avoid reprisals, are not limited to a specific area of the province since they extend throughout the Alto Gállego, La Litera, Sobrarbe or Bajo Cinca. The negotiation in Catalonia between the PSC and the ERC has not helped, especially in the territories close to this autonomous community.
“There is a sector of the party in the province that considers it necessary to renew itself,” these sources explain, referring to Senator Miguel Gracia. Added to this are the problems of another person in the leadership of Upper Aragon, Elisa Sancho, who – as published by the Heraldo de Aragón – is going to be investigated by the Provincial Council of Huesca for three contracts awarded to a company owned by her son and financed by the provincial entity itself between 2023 and 2023, when she was vice-president.
The environment of the Minister of Education and spokesperson for the government of Pedro Sánchez, Pilar Alegría, says it is outside of these conflicts: “We are not in this war. The party is in the Federal Congress,” they limit themselves to emphasizing. Other sources affirm that the affinity between the sector of the minister and the PSOE of Upper Aragon is no longer as intense as before.
On the nearest horizon is the election of Aragonese delegates to the Federal Committee in November. Ferraz downplays this fact given that the representation of the autonomous community (between 40 and 50 delegates) will be “insignificant”. But for Aragon, in the current state of affairs, there could be a battle.
At the end of the month, the candidates of the three provinces will be known. To promote one, it must be supported by at least 12% of the registered militants in each territory; in Zaragoza, this means around 500. In principle, the role should be that of each of the three provincial secretaries – Lambán in the case of Zaragoza -, but in the current situation, there will be attempts to promote lists that will compete with them.
This will be a new chapter, and certainly not the last, in the process of replacing Javier Lambán in the General Secretariat of the Aragonese PSOE, a position he has held since 2012.
