Sumar stressed that this constituted a turning point in his relations with the PSOE and the government. The second vice-president, Yolanda Díaz, demanded from her partner a “profound overhaul” of the government and assured that she had communicated with President Pedro Sánchez. “We cannot manage things like that,” admitted the Minister of Labor during an interview with La Sexta following the cases of corruption which have hit the party for months and the cascade of accusations of harassment which affected the leaders of the PSOE last week. The parties in the coalition that Díaz coordinates are meeting urgently to address the crisis situation.
“The reflections, changes and cosmetic reforms are over. There is a point and it is time to act. He spoke with the president. It is an absolutely profound change in the government team. It does not depend on me, but our opinion is that we cannot continue. What is happening is very serious, we are not in July. The government must be reformulated”, he warned very firmly. More than five months ago, when he was admitted to preventive prison a few days ago, the number three of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán, involved in the accusation of biting for weeks in public works, caused a deep crisis within the coalition that led a minority partner to demand “a 180 degree turn in the legislative body”, asking for measures of a social nature and against corruption.
Díaz insisted this week that he must “change the government from the bottom up, create a minimum program of democratic regeneration for the decency of the country and human rights and take action.” Asked if we are facing a change of cycle, Díaz replied: “This absurdity of children, of sinkholes, of corruption… it is a Spain that today does not exist, the people are honored. It is the source of the 20th century. There is still a page to go.”
The vice president referred to the public body for the prevention of corruption in the Administration, overturned in September by the derechas of the PP, Vox and Junts in Congress, as well as the elimination of aforamientos in the case of these crimes. Additionally, he demanded an immediate audit of the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI) following the arrest of one of its former presidents this week.
The Sumar leader in the Executive also censored the cases of accidents that involved the former members of the federal leadership of the PSOE, Francisco Salazar and Javier Izquierdo, the former president of the Deputation of Lugo, José Tomé, mayor of Monforte de Lemos.
“It seems that things cannot be done well, and when things cannot be done, there are reasons to give explanations and take measures,” Díaz lamented in reference to Ferraz’s trial, before insisting that he is the president of the government and must appear before the media to answer journalists’ questions. “It’s desolate, women are tired of what is happening. They cannot consent. They have asked their PSOE comrades for this to end in our country. They must make a clean slate,” he assured, also showing absolute indignation.
In recent days, Sumar has hardened his tone against the Socialist Party as he learned of these cases, new arrests and the derivatives of the plot that initially affected the last secretaries of the Party Organization, José Luis Ábalos and Santos Cerdán, as well as the first advisor of the Ministry of Transport, Koldo García. The arrests of the socialist ex-militant Leire Díez, of the former president of SEPI Vicente Fernández Guerrero or of Antxon Alonso, Cerdán’s associate in Servinavar, a company in which the last three socialists held 45% of the shares, ended up exhausting the patience of Sumar, who risks being dragged away also because of the tsunami which affects the PSOE and which this end of the year has been a test for the Government.
About The Author
