If the motion of censure that Vox will submit to Congress this Tuesday and Wednesday fails, and everything indicates that the initiative will only have the support of the 52 deputies of the ultra formation, the general elections will be held at some point in December, within nine months. That will be the time that the two new ministers that he will appoint will have Pedro Sanchez to deploy their policies in Health and Industry. Substitutes for Caroline Darias and Reyes Maroto, who will be dedicated exclusively to their candidacies in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Madrid, will be announced shortly.
The president, as always in these cases, keeps in absolute secret his decision, and he has only consulted with his closest nucleus and with the chosen ones themselves. But in the PSOE don’t expect big surprises. Most of the socialist leaders consulted believe that, given the time proximity of the general elections, Sánchez will opt for continuist profiles.
Right now there is only two clear things because Sánchez himself has confirmed them: that the government crisis will not affect more departments and that the appointments will be made after the motion of no confidence to which the economist presents himself Ramon Tamames. The socialist leader made it clear last week that the changes would not take place before the meeting in Congress, but just after that he will go to Brussels to participate in the European Council, and when this appointment is over, he will take a plane back to Santo Domingo, where, between Friday and Saturday of this week, the Iberoamerican Summit. The most probable thing, in this sense, is that the President of the Government communicates the relays to the King on Monday, so that they can take possession and already participate in the Council of Ministers on Tuesday of next week.
From here, the new holders of Industry and Health will have nine months of guaranteed work. There may finally be many more, if Sánchez manages to be sworn in after the generals and reaffirms his commitment to the two chosen to replace Maroto and Darias. But this is a prediction that right now is quite risky. Most of the surveys, except for the barometers of the Sociological Research Center (CIS), place Alberto Núñez Feijóo in clear advantage, and very close to caressing the absolute majority if it adds up with Vox. Between now and December many things can happen, and in the PSOE they are convinced that they will happen, but at the moment they only have nine months guaranteed.
The names that sound the most are Xiana Méndez, Carme Artigas and Héctor Gómez in Industry, and Pablo Fernández Muñiz, Raquel Yotti and Idoia Mendia in Health
“We do not expect big signings or surprises & rdquor ;, points out a socialist territorial leader. He doesn’t mean it as a criticism. On the contrary. In a moment of so many uncertainties (the regional and municipal elections in May, the permanent attitude of Podemos to seek friction within the coalition or the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine), risky bets in this field are not appropriate, sources from the PSOE leadership point out. “Better play it safe & rdquor ;, match. “I suppose that he will opt for continuist profiles & rdquor ;, explains a minister.
the pools
Sánchez, they explain in the Government, has not given no sign about the chosen ones. But in the PSOE, as in other areas, there are bets on who will be the new members of the Council of Ministers. In Industry, the names that sound the most are Xiana Mendez, current Secretary of State for Commerce in the department that Maroto continues to direct, and Carmen Artigas, Secretary of State for Digitization in the Ministry of Economy and very close to the First Vice President, Nadia Calvino.
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For a time there was talk of Manuel de la Rocha, General Secretary for Economic Affairs in Moncloa, but PSOE sources explain that Sánchez most likely wants to continue counting on him as a close collaborator before such an important milestone as the EU Presidency, that Spain will assume between the beginning of July and the end of the year. There is also another possibility: a more clearly political profile, in which case it could have possibilities Hector Gomez, who was parliamentary spokesman for the Socialists in Congress until last September, when he was replaced by Patxi Lopez. Gómez, like Darias, is from the Canary Islands, so in this case the share of the archipelago in the Council of Ministers would be maintained.
In Health, most eyes are directed to the current Asturian counselor in this matter, Pablo Fernandez Muniz already Rachel Yotti, the Secretary for Research in the Ministry of Science, who between 2018 and 2021 served as General Director of the Carlos III Health Institute. If Sánchez decided to bet on a more political appointment, the hypothesis that she has been gaining the most strength in recent weeks is that of Idoia Mendia, current second vice-endakari in the Basque Government, whose agenda in recent days has triggered speculation: he is plagued health meetings.