Their situation “was unsustainable.” “I didn’t have much of a way out.” “It’s a difficult time for everyone, but it was the best option I had.” “The agony is over.” These are some of the reactions from various PSOE sources in Madrid collected by Public after the resignation announcement of Juan Lobato as general secretary of the Madrid socialists.
Lobato’s departure has generated a deep “shock”, as several sources consulted also define it. Even his staunchest defenders, who have been preparing for weeks to fight for him in the next primaries, criticize the management that their former leader has made of the matter of going to the notary to present some messages from a party colleague, Pilar Sánchez Acera.
In this way, the confessed crimes of Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s partner have turned against the socialists. There is a key quote that the entire PSOE looks closely at. On Friday Lobato goes to the Supreme Court to testify as a witness after the information about his messages. Government sources say that they have “absolute peace of mind” because there is “nothing” that could affect them. “We will have to see what specific explanations he gives,” say more concerned sources from the PSOE in Madrid.
Despite appearing to withstand the pressure at first, Lobato has ended up giving in. Neither in Moncloa, nor in Ferraz nor in his own federation did they understand his actions. He is leaving, he says in his statement, to “put a stop to a serious confrontation and division situation that was being generated in the party, that was only going to damage the PSOE in Madrid and the advances in unity.” That “damage” that Lobato speaks of is precisely something that his own teammates asked him to stop.
What happens from now on? At an organic level it will be created a manager to pilot the process of the next Regional Congress. The dates set before Lobato’s resignation already indicated next week as the starting point. Several sources consulted indicate that the most logical thing is for Isaura Leal to direct the aforementioned management company.
It is also suggested that she, as president of the PSOE of Madrid, would be the person who would lead the Madrid delegation, made up of 89 people, in the Federal Congress of Seville. This manager will also have to make the decision whether or not to maintain the primary calendar. December 7, if the current dates are maintained, would be the day on which pre-candidacies would have to be presented.
The name indicated right now in the PSOE is that of Oscar Lopez. The Minister of Digital Transformation will be, according to all the sources consulted, one of the candidates. Ferraz’s favorite and the person who “may be able to achieve unity” in a turbulent Madrid federation. “Everyone behind Oscar,” says one of the leaders consulted. The minister has not yet confirmed his aspirations, although in the socialist ranks it is taken for granted that he will be the rival with whom Isabel Díaz Ayuso will have to dialectically confront.
Will there be any alternative candidacy? It’s a mystery. First, because the federation, according to several leaders consulted, is still digesting Lobato’s departure. Second, because “you have to see the support” that someone who would stand up to a candidate anointed by Sánchez for being part of the Government and having been his chief of staff would have. The objective, according to socialist sources, is to integrate different sectors of the party, both those who were closest to Lobato and the critics, especially represented in some southern municipalities such as Fuenlabrada or Getafe.
A history of tensions and experiments
Although there were those who a couple of weeks ago, including Lobato, categorically rejected Ferraz’s “interference” in the PSOE in Madrid, the situation has now changed. The Madrid federation has experienced a series of traumatic events for decades. And also with some electoral results more than questionable. It was in 1987 the last time that the PSOE won a municipal election in Madrid. In the Community of Madrid, the Popular Party has been governing at the regional level since 1995, when Alberto Ruiz Gallardón defeated Joaquín Leguina, president since 1983.
The PSOE had an option to govern in 2003, but the famous and historic ‘tamayazo’ prevented Rafael Simancas from being president instead of Esperanza Aguirre. In 2019 the socialists were once again close to the Madrid Government. In fact, Ángel Gabilondo’s candidacy was the most voted, but the numbers on the left did not work and a pact between Cs and PP gave the presidency to Ayuso.
Another proper name in the recent history of the PSOE of Madrid is that of Tomas Gomez, one of the mayors with the most votes at the time thanks to his management in Parla. Ferraz decided to intervene in the federation due to cost overruns on the town’s tram and dismissed Gómez, giving way to another manager. The restructuring of the party came with primaries in which Sara Hernández won. In 2007, another manager had already been formed after the resignation of Simancas.
The PSOE of Madrid has also lost, both at the municipal and regional levels, its dominant role on the left. was surpassed by Now Madrid, first, and More Madridthen. Although in 2023 they recovered and stayed close, they are still the third political force.
In it Madrid City Council In addition, different “experiments” have taken place, as some leaders describe them. People like Trinidad Jiménez, Miguel Sebastián, Jaime Lissavetzky, Antonio Miguel Carmona, Pepu Hernández and, the last trick, Reyes Maroto have passed as heads of the list.
Precisely Lobato, in a recent interview with this medium, valued the stability that was set as a goal. “I have an assignment. I was given an assignment two and a half years ago. From the militants and top leaders of the party. I was told that I had to build in the medium term and with time a solid alternative to Ayuso in Madrid and lift up the party.” His resignation now resets the counter to zero for his successor.
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