The organizing secretary of the PSOE, Rebeca Torró, will present this Friday, December 12, the report on the harassment allegations against the former socialist leader Francisco Salazar. In addition, together with the Equal Opportunities Minister Pilar Bernabé, he invited everyone responsible for this area to a personal meeting at the party headquarters on Ferraz Street.
According to the call sent this Thursday, to which Europa Press had access, the management convenes the regional equal opportunities secretaries as well as the spokesmen of the branch and the state pact against gender-based violence in the Congress, the Senate and the socialist delegation in the European Parliament.
Also invited to the meeting, which begins at 4 p.m., are the Socialist Spokespersons for Equality and Gender-Based Violence of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) and the Equality Secretary of the Socialist Youth.
APPEARS IN FRONT OF THE MEDIA FOR THE FIRST TIME
Before that, Torró will hold a press conference at 11:30 a.m. at the same national headquarters, his first public intervention since the outbreak of this crisis, where, according to socialist sources, he will publish the report on the complaints against Salazar.
This report was prepared by the PSOE Anti-Harassment Office, which received two anonymous complaints last July against Pedro Sánchez’s adviser in La Moncloa and a member of the Socialist Federal Executive Board.
The statements of these two women, who worked under them in the administration’s presidency, describe harassing behavior in the workplace and the cover-up of their number two, Antonio Hernández, who was also fired.
The sources consulted indicate that the party must address changes in response and contact time with victims, which they describe as “prohibitive”, as well as improve support for complainants during the process.
They also believe that from now on they should no longer leave these cases solely in the hands of the legal department, as was previously the case. However, they point out that the fact that the complaints are anonymous makes the investigation more difficult, as it is more difficult to contact them, and they express their support to Rebeca Torró given the criticism received in recent days.
NEW MEETING IN THE FACE OF INTERNAL CRITICISM
Last week, the federal leadership of the PSOE convened an emergency telematics meeting with the regional equal opportunities secretaries. A tense meeting in which several heads of state and government expressed their criticism of the handling of harassment complaints against socialist officials.
In the appeal to those responsible for equality, they refer to “current political affairs” as the only point of discussion, without specifically referring to the cases of Salazar and the former president of the Lugo Provincial Council, José Tomé, which appeared this week.
CRISIS IN GALICIA
In the last hours, this latest case triggered a crisis within the party in Galicia. Tomé announced his suspension from militancy, which also means the resignation of all his organic positions, and that he will resign as president of the Lugo Provincial Council. However, he expressed his willingness to continue as mayor of Monforte – a municipality in which he has an absolute majority – and as provincial deputy, in both cases on the condition of not being bound.
In this context, both the national leadership of the PSOE and the Galician leadership led by José Ramón Gómez Besteiro have asked him to resign from both positions, in a context in which the leadership of the Galician PSOE is working to avoid a crisis in the provincial institution in which Tomé would become an important deputy to lead a deputation in which the PSOE holds the government in collaboration with the BNG.
At the same time, a meeting of the PSdeG Equal Opportunities Commission will take place this Thursday afternoon in Galicia, at which those responsible for this area in the community will analyze what is happening.
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