For years the PSOE and the alternative left parties have shared governments and responsibilities; since 2020, in fact, the state executive is a coalition between both sensibilities. For this reason, it has been common for socialists to be aware of the internal processes of their partners and their electoral expectations.
The PSOE closely followed the reorganization of the alternative left that displaced Unidas Podemos as the main actor in the space and the birth of Sumar as a hegemonic coalition. They also witnessed the poor results of this space in the last electoral cycle and were interested in internal assemblies of organizations, such as the last one of Izquierda Unida, which appointed Antonio Maíllo as federal coordinator.
Now it is Pedro Sánchez’s turn to face their own organic process of renewal and the spectators are the different parties of the alternative left, who will closely follow the 41st Federal Congress of the PSOE that is being held this weekend in Seville.
The socialists come to this meeting with the need to face a renewal of their leadership in different territories, after the electoral disaster of the last municipal and regional electionswhich ended with a clear victory for the PP and the formation of governments between the right and the extreme right of Vox.
Prominent voices from the parties that make up Sumar’s coalition see the socialist conclave as an opportunity for Pedro Sánchez’s party to resolve the battle that exists between “their two souls”: neoliberalism and social democracy.
The debate of ideas, displaced by scandals
“The PSOE supports neoliberal policies in Spain and in Europe, but it also has a social democratic soul; I think that They have to resolve that contradiction now at the moment in which we are in a reactionary advance,” explain sources from Izquierda Unida.
When brought down to earth, these same sources specify, this battle should translate into a review by the socialists on issues such as housing policy, war or his unconditional support for NATO.
“Housing is a fundamental element, the problem of our time, and The PSOE must choose which side it is onfrom the people or from the speculation funds that expel us from our cities,” they say from the Sumar coalition.
“Housing is the problem of our time and the PSOE must choose which side it is on”
Regarding the war, these voices remind that “it is not only about the genocide of Israel in Palestine, an area in which the Government and the PSOE have taken steps, although still insufficient, but also about the war in Ukraine, a war on soil that is changing international relations and defining a new geopolitical map.
However, sources from Sumar’s management recognize that “the atmosphere surrounding the PSOE congress is not the most conducive to a real debate of ideas and proposals: the last week has been more of a dance of hidden internal fights, culminating in the Lobato’s resignation, and little or nothing has been said about the political presentation they present. It would be desirable for the debate to be there, but the focus is usually on something else.
These same sources point out that “as a general analysis, The PSOE, on many occasions, lacks ambitionand, beyond the chosen slogan, many of the star ideas of his political presentation are rather concepts that Sumar has placed on the table.”
“Many ideas in his political presentation are concepts that Sumar has placed on the table”
In this sense, the aim is to “share business profits with workers, protect abortion or equal marriage in the Constitution, public nature of protected housing…If there is a real will to carry them out, These measures could already be in the Government agreementbecause Sumar has always defended it: what is not worth it is signing something in the political presentation that at the same time you are going to deny or not try to put into practice as the Government.”
The relationship between the PSOE and the space to its left has been symbiotic for years. The socialists are very far from being able to form a government alone with their current electoral expectations (which, in addition, places them behind the PP, as happened in the last general elections).
On this issue, voices from Sumar state that “the future of the PSOE depends largely on what happens with this coalition government and its ability to draw a desirable alternative and materialize it through their action. This requires ambition on many fronts in which the PSOE’s hand has so far trembled a lot, such as decisive intervention in terms of housing. “Whoever believes that words are enough should look at what has happened in the United States,” they warn.
The construction of alternatives to the PP in the territories
This reading also extends to the different territories, in which currently The PSOE is the opposition in almost all communities and the times of their absolute majorities seem to have been very far away.
In this context, sources from Izquierda Unida, a party with strong territorial roots and, above all, municipalist, explain that “the PP governments in the autonomous communities are too many and their powers are many, for example in matters of housing, and The PSOE has to build alternatives to the PP in the territories”.
However, these same voices warn that “it would be a mistake for (the PSOE) to think that in these alternatives they can count on the transformative left. We have to talk about politics to reach agreements“.
#Neoliberalism #social #democracy #PSOE #members #Congress #battle #souls
