The decision of the PSOE leadership to suspend the primaries in Castilla y León has finally fueled the barons critical of the party apparatus. The situation experienced by Luis Tudanca seems to have served to motivate and unite the territorial leaders who want to stand up to Ferraz from their regions and who have already started to mobilize to do so.
As this newspaper learned, other federations were considering carrying out a movement similar to that of Tudanca, which until recently was linked to Pedro Sanchezand will call its primaries before the party’s Federal Congress, which will be held at the end of November, and critics describe the suspension decreed by Ferraz as “obscenity”.
Now these barons are focusing on mobilize activism that they believe supports themthey will visit local headquarters and try to convince regional parliamentarians of their party in each region. They will defend their autonomy in relation to Ferraz and will defend that the national leadership allows them to develop political projects already initiated and supported by activism.
“I am clear about what I have to do in my territory and they are not going to move us from there,” says one of the barons critical of Ferraz. “The question of having one’s head cut off… you lose your fear when you see that there are more and more of us. One thing that is happening is that here everyone is talking to everyone and we see that the fear has been broken,” he adds.
“In Ferraz they are used to carrots and sticks and they threaten you. But we have serious plans and we started to think and we talked among ourselves and we see that we have a lot in common. It’s something that until now was not allowed and what is happening,” he concludes.
The Executive recognizes that it has a certain fear of internal rebellion and the sources consulted within party leaders show a certain concern. They fear that there are territorial leaders who implement strategies to “retrench themselves” and maintain activism in their favor.
“Violent gesture”
The new internal crisis of the PSOE broke out last Thursday when the autonomous committee of the PSOE of Castilla y León decided to begin the primary process next October 8, against the guidelines proposed by Ferraz. Luis Tudanca’s argument was that he had to prepare for a possible electoral advance given the weakness of the president Alfonso Fernández Mañueco.
The party’s federal leadership, on the other hand, wanted to open the debate on territorial replacements after the Congress, at the beginning of 2025, so as not to interfere in the debate of ideas. The next day, Friday, Ferraz announced the decision to suspend the Castilian-Leonese primaries.
Even if Ferraz hides behind the statutes to make this decision, Tudanca considers it “subjective”. In fact, this Monday he raised the pulse and accused the party leadership of “destabilization” and the third, Santos Cerdanto “play dirty”.
Ferraz responds, in a conversation with this newspaper, that Tudanca has been losing elections for many years and that he “invented” the situation of the primaries to “root himself”, because it was clear that the apparatus was going to promote an alternative to his candidacy.
This argument, however, does not satisfy critics. They remember that the last time Tudanca underwent primaries, it was also done through a process like the one they tried to promote and that in other territories, like the last primaries in Madrid, the process was also began before the Federal Congress, although the final votes these occurred later.
“It’s something that has been done with a certain normality until now. But they invented that it couldn’t be done now and that it went against the statutes, when in reality the statutes are ambiguous in this sense, OK, but it goes against the decision of a territory. It is a violent gesture,” adds another critical baron.
“This shows obvious weakness. They become more and more closed off, saying that others are bad and they are good. They see conspiracies everywhere and these are not the forms, especially in a scenario of parliamentary weakness. There’s a lot of nervousness,” he says.
Be careful with alternatives
At Ferraz, they are aware that they must have caution when promoting alternative candidates to regional barons. There is a certain tendency on the part of activists to vote against the apparatus – Pedro Sánchez himself defeated the ruling sector in his re-election as general secretary – and the fact that critics are defeating Ferraz’s candidate weakens the party leadership.
On the part of the management, they recognize that they still do not know if there will be an alternative candidate to Luis Tudanca. The territorial leader has already received the support of regional deputies and important positions in the formation such as the mayor of León, Jose Antonio Diezor the former president of the Senate, the sanchista Andrew Gilamong others.
As for the other territories, they have not yet decided what they will do in Extremadura, where there is another criticism, Miguel Angel Gallardowhich precisely beat Ferraz’s list during the primaries which won it, in March.
The party leadership could have exempted him from running in new primaries after the Congress, for example by adding an exception for those who have been at the head of the party for a short time, but it did not do so. open scenario. But if Ferraz pushes for an alternative candidacy and loses, again, it would be a major blow on that front.
The party leadership recognizes that there will be a difficult battle in Aragon. Former Aragonese president Javier Lambán He will not participate in the primaries and the schedule was the one agreed with Ferraz, but they are already avoiding the hypothetical candidacy of the minister-spokesperson of the government, Pilar Alegría.
In Madrid, Pedro Sánchez has already declared to his entourage that he wants to replace the current secretary general, Juan Lobato. But he is clearly going to fight and has already announced his intention to continue to lead the party. Furthermore, Madrid is a complicated place and activism could become fatigued by the continuous changes of its leaders.
Where it is clear that Ferraz will not perform is in Castilla-La Mancha. The president, Emiliano García-Pageis one of the barons most critical of Pedro Sánchez, but opposing him could be suicide. “We cannot question the leadership which has the most support and the only absolute autonomous majority”, they comment from those around them.
