The socialist barons are shielded from the scandal but concern spreads in Andalusia. | The PP assures that this matter and the involvement of the number two of the Andalusian PSOE in an alleged kidnapping is a “gift” and a “push” that they did not count on
A hailstorm of news about alleged electoral fraud in various parts of Spain has turned this end of the campaign into one of the muddiest in recent years. To the great uncertainty of the meeting on May 28, with very close results between the bloc of the right and the left in several autonomies, is now added the enormous confusion of these last hours, with arrests and judicial investigations for buying votes and irregularities in voting by mail.
This unexpected storm is hitting, above all, to the PSOE, which has charges implicated in different municipalities, and number two of the party in Andalusia, Noel López, pointed out before the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia as an “alleged inducer” of the kidnapping of a socialist councilor in Maracena (Granada province). A very shady case from which the summary secrecy has been lifted just this Thursday and which leaves the socialists in a very delicate position throughout Spain and weakens, just three days after going to vote, the initials.
Precisely, the PSOE is the one that is most at stake in Sunday’s elections because it has more governments to defend. It intends to preserve La Rioja, Navarra, Aragon, the Canary Islands, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community, Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha, conquer the Barcelona City Council and retain that of Seville. The exam for the PP is also important. But it is presented to improve grade, expand their municipal power and add some of the socialist regions to Madrid and Murcia, which are fully insured. In the last hours, due to the accumulation of negative information for the PSOE, in Genoa have raised their expectations.
The PSOE’s national campaign has been well below their expectations and, according to various sources, is not achieving the mobilization that it sought. The presence of ETA members in the candidacy of EH Bildu that slipped into the debate of the first days already took the Socialists out of their lane, distracted the regional and municipal candidates from their objectives, and reduced the focus of the president’s adverts of the Government, Pedro Sánchez. Now, the culmination of vote buying is being a real ordealSpecially in Andalusia. Last Tuesday, socialist leaders admitted that everything was open in several capitals, such as Seville, Huelva, Cádiz or Granada, reports Isabel Morillo. The PP, on the other hand, takes all the provinces for granted with the exception of Seville and Cadiz.
The objective of the PSOE these days was mobilize to their undecided voters, those who are still not sure if they will go to the polls or if they will bet on them or on another progressive formation. This purpose now seems more complicated with the latest news. The alleged fraud in Mojácar caused enormous confusion. But the imputation petition of the Organization Secretary of the PSOE-A in a kidnapping case has left the party mute and now everything is more muddy than ever in a municipal one in Andalusia.
The PSOE does not see it worse than a week ago
Despite the fact that the situation is more uncertain in the rest of Spain, the socialist leadership maintains its expectations. He doesn’t see things worse than a week ago. He defends that, according to his data, there is no sum of the right in the three most disputed regions -Valencian Community, Aragon and the Balearic Islands- and they cling to the fact that there are hours left to achieve greater mobilization.
These sensations are also the ones they have at the territorial level. In Valencia they insist, one more day, that the tracking —the daily poll with a small sample— “we are doing well.” “Tie with the PP in the struggle to be the first force and a good result of Compromís and Podemos that allow the leftist pact to be reissued”, and “recovering the abstention vote”. Neither in the Balearic Islands nor in Aragon do they see that there is an added risk with cases of vote buying. If anything, they stand out, it will be an electoral factor in the areas where the. In the three regions they consider that they have the same chances of winning as a few days ago. The concern is focused only on issues of a local nature.
Except in Andalusia, the news about alleged corruption is observed at a great distance in the rest of the party and does not generate concern in the autonomies where victory (or at least the possibility of governing) is more established, such as Navarra, Asturias, the Canary Islands, Extremadura. and Castile-La Mancha. It is only recognized that La Rioja can pass into the hands of the PP.
“A gift. Demobilizes the PSOE & rdquor;
But the popular ones frontally amend the socialist analysis. The scandal of buying votes in different municipalities and now the event of the kidnapping of a Maracena mayor is experienced as a kind of “final push & rdquor; which, they admit in Genoa, “they did not count on at all& rdquor ;. The outlook for 28-M continues, in general terms, adjusted. But since before the campaign began, the PP had been maintaining that it would be the winner of the elections. Now, in the hours before it ends, the sensations have gone to more.
In the national leadership they believe that there will be a “victory with ease & rdquor; about the PSOE, and they do not rule out that the difference is greater after this latest news, which in Genoa they think “demobilizes the left& rdquor ;. “This has been a kind of gift & rdquor ;, they highlight.
This Friday, Feijóo will hold events in Alicante, Albacete and finally in Madrid, together with Isabel Díaz Ayuso and José Luis Martínez-Almeida. In his team, they recognize that the vote-buying controversy will be a central part of the interventions he makes. Meanwhile, the PSOE avoids talking about this issue. Sánchez starred in his only rally this Thursday with Reyes Maroto and Juan Lobato, and the most concrete thing he said is that the PP wants to “muddy” the campaign. An accusation that they also launch from Ferraz: “A problem is being revealed that will have to be reflected on in the future, and stop making cheap electoralism and creating disaffection in the citizens.”
In Madrid, the situation of the PSOE is already complicated in itself but they also experience what happened in other autonomous communities as something distant. However, in Ayuso’s team they have seen the weakness of Sánchez’s formation and They have not hesitated to sow doubts. His number two, Alfonso Serrano, said it in the debate of candidates for the Community of Madrid on TVE: “We do not know to what extent it affects Madrid & rdquor ;, reports Elena Marin.
The reality is that the scandals have given ammunition to the PP, which has deployed a very harsh discourse against the PSOE. The idea was that the vice secretaries would attack on that flank and Feijóo would stay on the sidelines. But the events, they explain in Genoa, have ended up causing the Melilla affair and now the arrests in other parts of Spain for buying votes that affect socialist positions copy all the messages of the PP. Also those of the national leader. The PP demands immediate explanations and that the PSOE establish a clearer position on what happened.
Podemos believes that corruption does not affect
In Can, whose result is essential for the PSOE to retain their governments, do not take the allusion. Only this Thursday, days after it exploded, did Ione Belarra speak out to attribute these practices to “bipartisanship& rdquor; —although there are no popular detainees, for the moment— and to present themselves as “the alternative& rdquor; to this system. Beyond that, Podemos has avoided directly criticizing the PSOE, reports Ana Cabanillas.
The main effect for the purples is that where the PSOE falls they they will have fewer options to enter in the institutions. However, some voices in the party are skeptical of the effects that these cases may have on the electorate. “In any case, it will affect the parties that have bought votes, such as the Coalition for Melilla, PSOE or PP”, point out Podemos leaders who, however, believe that “corruption cases do not greatly condition the vote because they are socially assumed as part of the system”. They cite “the hundreds of defendants in the previous PP government, who have not prevented them from voting for them again& rdquor ;.
With these wickers, the parties face the decisive elections on Sunday, which will mark the future of 12 communities and two autonomous cities, in addition to all the municipalities in the country, and will clarify whether or not Spain is heading for a change in the electoral cycle.