The accumulation of cases of corruption and complaints of sexual and workplace harassment within the PSOE has had a new consequence, beyond the state of shock in which the socialists find themselves, with Yolanda Díaz’s demand for a “radical reformulation” of the government. Pedro Sánchez, who intends to stay the course until 2027, excludes this option and in Moncloa the words of the leader of Sumar are minimized, which, however, surprised the socialists.
“We have not considered it,” they emphasize in Moncloa, where they remind the second vice president that in the current government “there is no one linked to the corruption cases” given that the people involved left, as happened with José Luis Ábalos, in this case, before in theory his participation was known, or Santos Cerdán, removed from the Secretariat of the Organization when the UCO report became known.
In Sánchez’s team, we minimize Díaz’s words and follow the slogan that has become established recently: tackling potholes “without drama”. “We minimize the importance of the words of the second vice-president,” say sources from the socialist wing of the Executive, who frame her statements in a “rally”. In Moncloa, this was not well received since Díaz made this request in the middle of a “dirty debate” on corruption, with an approach that sowed distrust in the entire cabinet.
“It is his opinion and it must be respected, but the prerogative of the change of government belongs to the president,” add these sources, who recall that in the circles in front of journalists in Congress during the commemoration of the Constitution, he rejected a government crisis and expressed himself “satisfied with all” the ministers.
Sánchez’s intention is to make a surgical change within the cabinet after the departure of the spokesperson and Minister of Education, Pilar Alegría, PSOE candidate in the elections in Aragon. The advance to next February 8 will accelerate this change and bring about a change in the face of the government since Sánchez will have to decide who will be the next spokesperson.
What is excluded is that it is one of those who have the dual status of minister and candidate, namely Óscar López (Madrid), Diana Morant (Comunitat Valenciana) and María Jesús Montero, who will, in principle, be the next to leave the Council of Ministers for the elections in Andalusia in the coming months.
Sánchez intends to resist the “me too” storm that the PSOE is facing with complaints of harassment and the net of judicial strikes for corruption cases at a time when a new drift has opened with the arrest of the former activist Leire Díez and the former president of the SEPI, Vicente Fernández, who have provoked searches in several ministries and public companies in the last two days.
Despite the situation, the socialist wing conspires to resist. “We do so many things on the part of the government and the institutions, the vast majority of us, that when there are people who are involved or associated with cases of corruption or machismo, it hurts us and impacts us, of course,” Montero said this Thursday in Congress, before finishing: “It’s one thing and another is that it causes any kind of instability within the government.”
About The Author
