The president marks the “clear priority” of the party from now on: turn to the regional and municipal elections, for which it is necessary to put “one more gear”
The party prefers to turn the page on the relays. Sánchez coldly says goodbye to the outgoing leaders and surrounds himself with the new nucleus of power
Maybe it was just a fluke. But in a political leader who has made resilience his personal mark, the white shirt he wore this Saturday, before his own, before the highest governing body of the PSOE, seemed to mean more, it inevitably led to years ago. To the 2014 and 2017 primaries: the ones he won anointed by the devices and the ones he won despite them and against them. White as a symbol of strength, of not giving up, of fighting to the end. Because that was the message that Pedro Sánchez wanted to convey to his colleagues: we must fight and endure despite the fact that the weather is adverse and favors, for now, the PP. In other words, nothing to “give up”.
The president had convened this July 23 his federal committee in Ferraz to ratify the replacement of his nucleus of power in the leadership of the party, but he, and his companions, also wanted to turn the page soon to turn to the electoral battle that is just around the corner, the municipal and regional ones, a prelude to some general ones that, behind closed doors, he relocated in December. The “clear priority,” he told them, is right now the May elections. “We have desire to win, we know how to do it, we are the party that has done it many times. We did it in 2019 and we will do it in 2023, I have no doubt about it. We are going to do it by working together, as a team, “she urged in her open speech, which lasted about an hour.
But it is necessary, he warned, “to put one more gear”, to put the machinery at full capacity, to mobilize to the fullest. Not like what happened in the Andalusian ones a month ago, I was going to say, the ones that set off all the alarms and the ones that, in the end, have caused both the internal upheaval and the discursive turn to the left. “Put one more gear”, he added, to face the other challenges: from the 2023 Budgets to the fight against inflation or the Spanish presidency of the EU. She reiterated that the recipe to face them is “empathy” —the “soul” that Yolanda Díaz was missing— and “social commitment.” The general secretary sought to harangue the PSOE, lift its spirits, plug it in, but also reconnect with its voters: “he spoke for all of us and on behalf of the socialists I address millions of progressivesand I propose that we go for all”. That “for all” is the president’s mantra after the Andalusians. He premiered it in the nation’s debate and not in vain did he repeat it this Saturday.
“You have to bite the PP”
Sánchez’s speech was followed by twenty interventions. No reviews. Even the traumatic debacle in Andalusia was almost ignored: it was mentioned by the number two of the federation, Ángeles Férriz, to insist that the reasons for the bleeding of votes remain to be analyzed. But the chief’s proclamation did serve to encourage the staff, according to committee members as they left. The leadership came out “plugged in”, in “good spirits”, they said. The president was even more emphatic in his final reply, without cameras in front of him: he assured that the PSOE only lost elections when he had assumed that he was defeated, when he did not believe in himself. “I am not resigned to the fact that the right governs this country,” he said. And the strategy will be to focus the shot on Alberto Núñez Feijóo, try to cut his wings. “You have to bite him,” summed up one of the new charges.
Sánchez did not want to focus the internal debate on the remodeling of his executive, precipitated by the resignation of Adriana Lastra on Monday, although he did want to exhibit this new nucleus of power, having himself escorted on stage, before the committee proceeded to ratify the appointments, by María Jesús Montero, deputy secretary general; Pilar Alegría, spokesperson for the leadership, and, one row above, Patxi López, spokesperson for Congress. He coldly said goodbye to those who leave the direction: Lastra, Felipe Sicilia and Héctor Gómez. He thanked them for the “work done” and announced that they will continue “carrying out other political responsibilities” that he did not specify.
The president of Asturias, Adrián Barbón, a close friend of the already former number two, did vindicate her before his colleagues in a “very heartfelt” way. He was the one who most decisively supported her in the committee, and it was not surprising, nor was it that the Canarian baron, Ángel Víctor Torres, praised the work of Héctor Gómez from Tenerife in Congress. Like Eneko Andueza, leader of the PSE, he showed his enthusiasm for the rise of Patxi López, and raised his colleagues in applause by assuring that he was not going to allow the right to give “lessons” to colleagues threatened by ETA for years. The other speakers welcomed the changes and thanked the outgoing for their work. However, most of the regional presidents were missing: Ximo Puig (Valencia), María Chivite (Navarra), Francina Armengol (Balearic Islands) and the always distant Ferraz Javier Lambán (Aragón). The appointments were validated by the committee by assent.
“Let’s go with everything and for all”
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But no one recreated the internal reorganization, the party “does little to lick its wounds,” summed up the Madrid baron, Juan Lobato, at the entrance. The PSOE did stop more in the time to come. A “difficult and complex” path, Sánchez acknowledged openly. “Curves are coming,” warned the Castilian-Manchego Emiliano García-Page, who listened to the leader and returned to his land on the agenda. The socialists come out stronger both to continue governing and to carry out “useful politics” (“that is the great cartridge” of Sánchez) and face the electoral cycle, stressed Salvador Illa, leader of the PSC. The same Luis Tudanca (Castilla y León): the party is “strong” and the new ranks will be able to “cope” with months of “uncertainty” and crisis. “A new stage is opening, we are going with everything and for all” added Lobato.
The PSOE is already in campaign mode. In the speeches and in the processes: the committee also approved the primary calendar: by mid-October, in a first round, or by mid-December, in a second package, all regional and municipal candidates must be elected. Sánchez, observed a territorial leader, wants to show that he fights “until the end.” The message that also seemed to scream his white shirt. Of course, on the way, from that distant 2017 primary until today, most of those who were by his side, in the very first line, are no longer today, except for the Secretary of Organization, Santos Cerdán, a survivor of his struggle with Lastra.