Internal unrest is spreading within the PSdeG-PSOE due to the handling of accusations of sexual harassment against one of the main collaborators of its leader, José Ramón Gómez Besteiro. Some 70 women in the party, many of whom hold important positions currently or in the past, have signed a manifesto in which they express their solidarity with the resignation presented last Friday by the Secretary for Equality, Silvia Fraga. Fraga resigned from his post the same day Besteiro admitted that he had been aware since October of complaints about the sexist behavior of his baron of Lugo, José Tomé. “Her resignation is an act of feminist commitment by which we feel deeply represented,” the signatories say about Fraga.
Five mayors signed the letter, including that of La Coruña, Inés Rey, member of the party’s federal executive. It is also signed by the former Secretary of State for Equality Laura Seara, who held this position in the last government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and by historical figures of Galician socialism such as Marisol Soneira or Carmen Marón.
Among the signatories of this manifesto is not the president of the PSdeG, Carmela Silva, from Vigo, although she also criticized the management of Besteiro. “Things were not done well,” he said in an article published this Sunday in Vigo Lighthousein which he asks that the case marks “a before and an after” in training. Silva demands “clear protocols”, “expert advice” and “a firm conviction that the defense of women’s rights is above any short-term calculation”.
The manifesto does not refer to Besteiro or address him directly, but it emphasizes that in the face of “any de facto complaint” against the dignity and integrity of women “the response must be rapid, clear and energetic”, “especially from those who occupy organic positions”. In the PSOE, the signatories emphasize, “there is no room for any action that protects or relativizes sexual harassment and machismo.” “We defend the need to clarify the facts, protect victims and preserve the integrity of institutions,” they add.
Xuventudes Socialistas asked the PSdeG leadership to convene an Extraordinary National Committee to give “explanations in a clear and transparent manner”. The party’s young people criticize the tools that socialism has equipped itself with to manage cases of harassment internally: “The protocol doesn’t work; it’s good to be the first party to have one, but not if you can’t help anyone.”
About The Author
