“Look at the pace we have in the PSOE of Castilla-La Mancha.” The president of the XIII Regional Congress of the Castilian-La Mancha socialists, Tita García Élez, defined the mood during the closing of the conclave that has once again designated Emiliano García-Page as general secretary for four more years.
It has received almost insurmountable support, with 99.4% of votes, none against and two abstentions.
After twelve noon, the plenary session of the congress received Page to the rhythm of Tequila, instead of the official party anthem. Don’t let time change youcould be heard at the beginning of the closing ceremony with an exultant PSOE. Quite a declaration of intentions.
After the first day with the presence of a fleeting Pedro Sánchez, but very clear in his endorsement of the Castilian-Manchego baron, the atmosphere this Sunday was festive and much more relaxed than on the first day. With music, some provincial secretaries such as Álvaro Gutiérrez from Toledo dancing, and with a stage that the organization team had prepared to the millimeter, a video was projected with a carefully crafted message. “We are a success story, with policies that distribute wealth. “We are sons and daughters of equality.”
“President, president, president,” the audience shouted when Page took the stage, visibly excited. So much so that he extended his greetings and kisses to his new Regional Executive until he came out of his trance.
He never tired of giving thanks. “Thanks to all the media that put up with me, although not as much as my advisors. “You don’t know how proud I am of my government.”
At the beginning of his speech after leaving the conclave more than graceful, his first mention was for José María Barreda, former president of Castilla-La Mancha with whom, he said, he went “to listen to Alfonso Guerra when he was 16 or 17 years old and I sat in the front row”, in the place reserved for the general secretary of the regional PSOE at the beginning of the 80s of the 20th century, Miguel Ángel Martínez. “You are an example,” he told the veteran socialist.
García-Page spoke of a “happy” PSOE in which he feels “loved” and was committed to “paying it forward” with his work. “I am going to continue leaving my skin for this land.” Then there was a message for those who question his socialism. “If today I had to join a party again, I would join the PSOE again, with more conviction.”
The PP of Castilla-La Mancha had told him hours before that he had been “enthroned” by Pedro Sánchez and this Sunday Page responded: “We are fine, we are comfortable, we have things clear and we know how and with whom to do it.” In the Government and in the PSOE. To the point that he already talked about the next Regional Congress. “In the next match I will be even better because Castilla-La Mancha will be much better and we are going in parallel.”
Some tell me that I am in sympathy with the right. I have been winning the Popular Party and the right all my life. I don’t insult them. I beat them at the polls
On two occasions he has rejected the criticism he receives from those who say that he should not be in the PSOE due to his constant criticism of the general secretary, Pedro Sánchez, whom he has not mentioned. “Some tell me that I am in sympathy with the right. I have been winning the Popular Party and the right all my life. I don’t insult them. “I beat them at the polls.”
He has explained his recipe for winning. “The important thing is that no one feels afraid with us, that they feel comfortable.” His way of seeing and doing politics, he says, “avoids hernias and kidney problems,” and that has to do with a slogan: “We have no enemies. We have priorities. We are for the most humble people, but having priorities is not the same as being against those of others.”
He has asked the Socialist Party in the autonomous community for four things: “Honesty, simplicity, common sense and defending this land.” And he stressed again and again the argument that is usually his own in his confrontations on the right and left. “Castilla-La Mancha always ahead. Not because of coherence and personal conviction but because it is the most important thing for a party like ours. If the region is doing well, so are we. And if not, we, without a party.”
He has also been forceful when stating: “I don’t want to be president so that others aren’t there. We have to stand on our merits.” He conveyed a message of optimism, but with conditions: “They need us firm,” he said, in an international context that he does not like. “Cheap populism and demagoguery abound in world politics… Worry about these people. “Some of the world’s democracies cause me great disappointment.”
Against that, he has contrasted the PSOE, which, he says, “has known how to identify with the Spaniards” and has opted to “be moderate and reasonable since what prevails is the common.”
“It is strictly forbidden to put your hand in here”
On Saturday behind closed doors, Emiliano García-Page boasted before the conclave of “zero corruption” among the Castilian-La Mancha socialists. It was revealed by the Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez, who intervened minutes before the Castilian-Manchego general secretary did so.
We are not the kings of mambo nor am I the fucking master. We do not want spectacle politics but boring politics and fulfilling what is promised
Today in public, Page has once again raised the flag of “honesty.” “We know that it is easy to screw up, but here it is strictly prohibited to screw up,” he warned. “What we will do in this legislature is fulfill, fulfill and fulfill our commitments,” but he has not forgotten to recognize that he has not always done so. “It would be deficient not to leave room for self-criticism and apologize. I ask for them.” It was addressed to those who have not seen the expectations of socialist promises fulfilled and “those for whom we have not been able to solve the problems.”
It was then that he mentioned the ‘defects’ of his party or his government. “We are not the kings of mambo nor am I the fucking master,” but he also says he is clear about what he does not want, “spectacle politics.” Page has said that he prefers to “bore people” and that what is promised can be fulfilled.
“You should not complicate your life with intellectual or ideological cobwebs”
The socialist baron has left for the end of his speech a reference to the issues that have most confronted Pedro Sánchez, and according to some, have brought him closer to the right: from the independence movement to regional financing.
“I am interested in a nation of people, not an entelechy. A plural and open nation” that allows regions like Castilla-La Mancha to carry out their “desire for equality.”
If anyone wants to know what shirt I’m wearing, it’s the equality shirt. Let’s see if some of them don’t get confused when we talk about financing because I will be the first to remember it.
Later he referred again to his questioned approach to the right. “Ideology cannot fall into routine. There are things that previously seemed left-wing and today are reactionary” and in this aspect renegade from what he calls “the cheap dialectic of the public and the private.”
In his opinion, “you don’t have to complicate your life with intellectual or ideological cobwebs” and he surprised everyone by stating that he would like to have “much more private healthcare and education”, although he then clarified: “I’m not saying that we pay for it.” In this area he has once again cited one of the mantras since he has been regional president: Dolores de Cospedal. “There is no more private healthcare and education here because there is no business. And it was very noticeable in Cospedal’s four dark years.”
There must be a non-fanatical social democracy, with a majority vocation because if not, it does not work
He then advocated for “a non-fanatical social democracy” that has to have a “majority vocation” because if not, “it doesn’t work.” Yesterday, Pedro Sánchez, before the same forum, vindicated the “social democratic formula” against the “real and certain threat of the far-right international.”
The PSOE cannot be the party that defends any privilege in Spain for anyone. We would be betraying our essence
He has woven it with his own demands to finance his government’s policies. “If anyone wants to know what shirt I’m wearing, it’s the one for equality. Let’s see if some of them don’t get confused when we talk about financing because I will be the first to remember it.” And in this sense he has once again said that “the PSOE cannot be the party that defends any privilege in Spain for anyone. “We would be betraying our essence, our definition as a project.”
If anyone wants to know what shirt I’m wearing, it’s the equality shirt. Let’s see if some of you don’t get confused when we talk about financing because I will be the first to remember it.
“We cannot now question the Spanish nation.” And what that means, for him, is “economic and fiscal unity.” In this regard, he has indicated that he will “never” admit that the wealth of a region is “his alone” or that he “distributes whatever he wants” because that “neither the Constitution nor common sense says so.”
By closing his speech he has once again focused on one of the most repeated messages. “Wealth is national. Everything from everyone. And those who have more pay more. That is what social democracy has brought to the fiscal policy of this country. It is our main inheritance” of which he boasts: “Redistributive policy can be carried out with spending, but also with income.”
Regarding taxation, he recalled that “there was a time when the left rejected indirect taxes. We will have to consider that things must be changed.” And he has given a concrete example. “But what is this about redistributing the tax that is imposed on banks based on the Gross Domestic Product of a land? The richest region, the one that takes the most. And that we have to tolerate that… That is not leftist.” It has been one of his most applauded arguments
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