The case Paco Salazarjoined to that of Antonio Navarro in Torremolinoscaused a new earthquake in Spanish politics, and not only within the Socialist Party. The constancy of misogynistic and sexist attitudes within organizations that must be … Very thorough in their ethical and moral attitudes, which should be a reference in society, they show once again that the theoretical postulates are too far from reality. The sentence pronounced by José Luis Ábalos, “I am a feminist because I am a socialist”, is paradigmatic of this difference between duty and being.
In this murky affair, particularly damaging for the PSOE for having assumed (and largely won) the female vote, the formation led by Pedro Sánchez not only did not defend the activists who denounced such reprehensible behavior, but also tried to stifle them so that the scandal did not come to light. These maneuvers leave in a very bad position his spokesperson Pilar Alegría, who met Salazar himself a few weeks ago, and María Jesús Montero, general secretary of the Socialist Party, who allowed the Sevillian (Sánchez’s advisor in La Moncloea) to walk freely in the offices without anyone stopping his feet.
Precisely, the spokesperson for the Andalusian government, Carolina España, criticized this Sunday that “the silence of Mrs. (María Jesús) Montero makes her complicit in all these cases of machismo, in the Salazar case and in the Torremolinos case.” The PP demands “explanations, because ultimately all the socialist federations have put Ms. Montero”, vice-president of the government and candidate in next year’s regional elections, at the center of all these affairs.
“We demand urgent explanations from the Socialist Party,” Spain continued, “and from the number two nationally, from the number one Socialist Party of Andalusia, on the question of whether these complaints regarding alleged cases of harassment have been covered up.”
“Montero must give explanations”
The Minister of Economy and Finance compares “the treatment reserved for the women who were members of his party, dear socialists, imagine what can be given to any other Andalusian or Spanish woman. This is why he must give a lot of explanations,” he insisted.
“When did they become aware of the complaint of the Salazar affair and Torremolinos affair? Why did they hide? Who ordered these complaints not to be processed? Is it true, as the socialist federations say, that Ms. Montero was among those who harassed the women who denounced this alleged harassment, so that they would withdraw their complaints, so as not to destroy Mr. Salazar’s political career? “Were they on the side of the alleged harasser or were they on the side of the victims?”, with many questions from the spokesperson.
“There are many questions to be clarified. In politics, it’s not just about apologizing, you have to take responsibility and know the truth,” he said. “There is a double machismo. On the one hand, alleged harassment, but on the other, alleged pressure on female victims to withdraw their complaint.
“It’s very humiliating. This is contempt for women and we are already tired of so much contempt and abuse because in the end it all adds up. “This is the Ábalos case, this is the Koldo case, now we have like the other case, the Salazar case, the Torremolinos case, what is happening in the Socialist Party with women?”
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