The PSOE opens the door to a motion of censure against Almeida in Madrid

The war in the PP is of such caliber that it is impossible to foresee the following chapters of a series that could end up blowing up the party. Perhaps there is only one winner left, or Pablo Casado or Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Or maybe none. But there is a hypothetical carom that involves the other political forces and that could happen. An eventual motion of censure in the Madrid City Council that made Begoña Villacís mayor. Neither the PSOE nor Más Madrid rule out that scenarioand even in the environment of the Ciudadanos leader they do not consider it completely impossible, although they warn that, “Today“, they do not contemplate that route. “As of today”. PSOE (8 councilors), Más Madrid (15, in a few days there will be 16) and Cs (11) add a comfortable absolute majority against PP (15) and Vox (4 ).

The general secretary of the Madrid Socialists, Juan Lobato, was sufficiently explicit at the end of his press conference this Thursday in Ferraz, when he was asked about that alternative, to overthrow the current alderman, the popular José Luis Martínez-Almeida. The training will focus, first, on the “process of demanding and requesting information from the City Council and the Community”, but he added: “This is a serious government party, and the serious thing is to control what has happened and that we know what has happened. And when we advance in that control, we will make the corresponding decisions.”

The door, therefore, did not close. Absolutely. In Ferraz they didn’t do it either, although they also agreed that right now “the important thing is that Genoa hired spies and that Ayuso awarded a contract by finger in which his brother could take 280,000 euros of illegal commissions”. “This is not going to stop, and not because of us, but because of themselves [por el PP] —sources from the regional directorate interjected—, so nothing can be ruled out, nor a motion of censure against Almeidaof course not”.

However, both in the PSOE-M and in the Socialist Group in the consistory they doubt that Villacís, current deputy mayor, would dare to break with the alderman. The leader of Cs exploded this Thursday against Almeida, because she was not aware of the investigation undertaken by the City Council to find out if an attempt was made to spy on Ayuso, and she warned that she would go “to the end” to see what happened. “For there to be loyalty there must be trust, and for there to be trust there must be transparency“He assured, revealing a new brush with Almeida. “We do not trust a hair of her —they point out from the socialist leadership in the consistory—, although the relationship is good. We’ll see if he dares. She knows that a motion is perhaps her only chance to survive, and the last.”

We are a serious government party.

The serious thing today is to demand responsibilities, monitor what happened and that they clarify for us Madrilenians and Spaniards everything that happened.

? @juanlobato_es pic.twitter.com/URYehm2InA

— PSOE (@PSOE) February 17, 2022

“She must present it”

They have the same doubts in More Madrid. “Begoña threatens to break up with Almeida, but then never does. He is looking for his moment of prominence in a match on the way to non-existence. If she wants the mayor to fall, the motion must be presented by her, but she is not going to separate from him, she only takes the opportunity to get her head out,” they maintain to this newspaper from the group led by Rita Maestre. The formation, which won the municipal elections in 2019, he does not rule out supporting Villacís as mayor.Three years ago the party led by Íñigo Errejón in Spain proposed that exit so that the City Council did not depend on Vox, but the orange leader preferred to agree with the PP.

From Citizens they emphasize that Villacís, as soon as the information of ‘The world’ and ‘The confidential’, demanded a meeting of the board of directors of the Municipal Housing and Land Company (EMVS), which finally takes place this Friday, and asked the mayor for all the information, which he did not refuse. So that “Today” the party does not consider promoting or joining a motion of censure, but it does not close the door to that scenario depending on how events evolve. In any case, sources from the three parties (Más Madrid and Cs) confirm that no contacts yet on this matter.

The local corporation is formed 57 councilmen, so the absolute majority stands at 29, and is more than reached by Más Madrid (15, it will be 16 in a few days when a new councilor takes office, running the list), Cs (11) and PSOE (8). In addition, it is very likely that the three councilors who broke with Maestre and who are close to former councilor Manuela Carmena will join. Another possible scenario could be resignation of Almeida himself If the fire came to your door. As they say in the Lobato leadership, what happens in the coming days will depend a lot on the journalistic revelations and the movements of Génova and Sol (the seat of the regional government) and “how the PP barons position themselves”.

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The next days and weeks will be decisive to know what happens in the capital. In the case of the PSOE, ultimately, the decision will be coordinated and piloted from Ferraz. And what happens in the Assembly of Madrid? Lobato could present a motion against the president, but it would be a purely symbolic movement, since she and Vox have a very comfortable majority in the regional Chamber, unlike what happens in the consistory. The left has 58 deputies (24 Más Madrid, 24 the PSOE and 10 United We Can), by 65 from the PP and 13 from the extreme right.

The regional leader of the PSOE did radically deny this Thursday that the party or Moncloa leaked a dossier against Ayuso a Casado. “It’s the version that Casado gave her to take off him. It was his excuse,” sources close to Pedro Sánchez told this newspaper.