There was never much doubt that Pedro Sánchez would obtain the endorsement of his party’s bases for his negotiations for an investiture that is taking longer to arrive than expected but in which the socialist leadership still fully trusts. He himself took it for granted last Saturday in the federal committee in which he defended his decision to accept an amnesty for those accused of the ‘procés’, which just three months ago he considered unacceptable, as the only way to guarantee the continuity of his Government “progressive”. “We have a militancy – he boasted – that never fails when asked to take a step forward.” Thus, it was, 87.13% of the participants in the consultation held throughout that week electronically, and in person only during this Saturday, the second day with a protest called by social networks and encouraged by from the right at the doors of the PSOE headquarters in Ferraz.
The success achieved has, however, some buts. Because what was in question was to what extent the concern or discomfort of a part of the party with the controversial measure that will erase with a stroke of the pen the crimes committed by the independentistas in the ‘procés’ from 2013 to the present would be reflected well in through negative voting, or through low participation. And the participation was not low. Of the around 172,600 socialists with a card called to speak out in a process unrelated to external controls, 63.4% voted. But the noes almost touched 12% (also among PSC militants)
In 2019, when the agreement reached with Unidas Podemos to form a Government was consulted in a single day, participation also reached 63%, but there were 92% yes. In 2016 regarding the agreement with Ciudadanos – insufficient and then never materialized – it was, however, 51.1% and the rejection reached 21% compared to 79% yes. But that pact aroused many reservations among bases leaning to the left.
The vote against reaches 12%, relevant, although nine points below what the agreement with Cs obtained in 2016
That the hard core of the leadership harbored some fear about participation became obvious yesterday when, through messages on the networks, they began to send messages – Sánchez himself did so on Friday – encouraging people to vote. The first secretary of the PSC, Salvador Illa, did so, appealing to the responsibility of his training: “I am sure that today we will know how to rise to the occasion, once again,” he said. The former Lehendakari and spokesperson in Congress, Patxi López, did so with the argument that “brave decisions” are needed. And other figures did so, such as the acting Minister of the Presidency, negotiator of the investiture, Félix Bolaños, or the head of Education and spokesperson for the executive, Pilar Alegría, with allusions to the “advances in rights and opportunities” that are about to happen. come.
critical voices
The voices critical of Sánchez’s approaches over the three months since last July 23 have been relevant – historical figures such as Felipe González, Alfonso Guerra, Ramón Jáuregui, Jesús Egiguren, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra, former ministers Ramón Jáuregui, Jordi Sevilla, Virgilio Zapatero, Tomás de la Quadra… – but numerically small. The senior staff of the formation, which met a week ago in Ferraz, accepted and even praised – with the sole exception of the president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, and the former mayor of San Sebastián, Odón Elorza – the turnaround undertaken by its secretary. general under the premise that, given the result of the general elections, which left the PSOE in second position and with no other possibility of re-editing a coalition Executive other than to request support for Carles Puigdemont and his party, it was time to “make virtue”.
The party leadership poured out messages on networks yesterday to encourage participation, which was, finally, 63.4%, practically the same as in 2019.
During this week, however, there has been a trickle of unchecking of rank-and-file militants or those with middle positions through the media and social networks. Among them, that of the former secretary general of the Rioja socialists and defender of Sánchez in his attempt to take back the reins of the party in 2017, Francisco Ocón, through an article in the newspaper ‘La Rioja’ titled ‘Why I will vote no’ , in which he warned that his negative vote would not be for the agreement with Sumar but for the amnesty. “Because I believe – he pointed out – that it will not improve coexistence in Catalonia and will deteriorate it in Spain as a whole.”
In reality, Sánchez has not asked the PSOE rank and file about an amnesty whose scope is still pending in the tug-of-war with the former president of the Generalitat, with whom the party’s number three, Santos Cerdán, has been negotiating in recent days. in Brussels. The question posed to the militants is much more open and ambiguous: “Do you support the agreement to form a coalition government with Sumar and achieve the parliamentary support of other political formations to achieve the necessary majority?”
Critics already expressed their misgivings on the day of its approval. “With this wording, the surprising thing would be if the yes vote dropped below 100%,” they argued in Page’s circle. “At this juncture, the consultation, on an incomplete program and unknown agreements, becomes a mere express procedure of mere adhesion,” Elorza insisted yesterday. The majority, however, had already assumed, although in some cases it was “with doubts” or “not excessive enthusiasm”, according to various territorial officials, that the fundamental thing is to “have a Government” and “stop the right.”
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