He general secretary of the PSOE of Madrid, Juan Lobato, decided to convene the regional party congress for the month of December. A decisive test in which his leadership is at stake after weeks where his solvency was questioned.
As Lobato progressed in the Assembly of Madrid, The regional congress will be convened on December 5 in the executive committee and will last, if there are candidates facing Lobato, until mid-January.
Lobato wanted to demonstrate his harmony with the party, ensuring that the dates were coordinated with Ferraz. Concretely, he confirmed having spoken this Wednesday with the number 3 of the party, Santos Cerdan, to close the calendar.
“The proposal came from Ferraz, we made an adjustment so that it did not fall on Christmas, but it was agreed with Cerdán,” he summarized.
Lobato’s leadership within the Madrid PSOE has been questioned during these years, despite the considerable increase in electoral data. Lobato did not want to take support from Pedro Sanchez and the national executive, but he assured that he had “proof” that they support his project. Just like the actions carried out by the PSOE in the region in recent weeks.
Although many voices are turning to the south of Madrid, looking for an alternative candidate, such as the mayor of Getafe, Sara Fernández, or the mayor of Fuenlabrada, Javier Ayala; Lobato said he didn’t have a “feeling” that Ferraz was going to run an alternative candidacy.
Anyway, the dates of the party congress will be as follows. On December 5, the process will open and applications will be submitted until the 7th. A day later, the process will open for candidates to submit their endorsements. Process which will end on the 16th.
Then, from December 18 to January 10 (as long as there are alternative applications to that of Juan Lobato), the campaign will be led by the candidates. In this regard, Lobato explained that this process usually lasts a week but, so that the votes did not take place on December 28, they delayed it for another week.
It is for this reason that the first round of voting will take place on January 11 and the second round on January 18.
