MADRID.- “Have you always had that cleavage?”Francisco “Paco” Salazar asked his employees at La Moncloa. I work for this socialist leader, close colleague of Pedro Sánchezwas a nightmare for women. “He came out of the bathroom half-dressed and didn’t zip up his pants until he was close to your face because you were sitting and he was standing,” said an employee in his office. These are just a few examples of the abuses he committed during his time as Secretary of Electoral Analysis and Action for the Spanish government.
The Complaints from at least two employees reached the internal channels of the Socialist Party (PSOE) in July.a delicate moment for Sánchez, who had ousted Santos Cerdán as secretary of the party organization due to corruption. The allegations against Salazar, the details of which were revealed by elDiario.es, came at a time when he was considered one of the candidates to succeed Cerdán in one of the most important positions of the progressive organization.
However, the official resigned days later when the complaints became public the shadow of sexual harassment and abuse of power against women under socialism This week they have once again weakened the credibility of this party that has adopted the flag of feminism in Spain. The PSOE was exposed again when it was revealed that the authorities had never investigated the complaints against Salazar; Four months later it said the allegations were lost due to a “computer error”.
Sánchez fired Antonio Hernández, Salazar’s right-hand man, who was targeted behind closed doors for protecting Salazar. News of the cover-up drew backlash from Women of Socialism, leading to two new harassment complaints this week. José Tomé resigned on Tuesday from the Lugo Provincial Council, the governing body of this region of Galicia, after being accused of abuses. The same thing happened on Thursday with Socialist Senator Javier Izquierdo. Both also left their positions in the PSOE.
The Spanish President alluded to the issue for the first time this Monday in his government’s final speech. The Socialist leader admitted he made a mistake in handling the complaints but justified the party’s action against the abuses. “The government and PSOE’s commitment to feminism is absolute. “We are the first political organization that has decided to address the problem of abuses with transparency and force and encourage people to report them,” he said. And he once again ruled out bringing the elections forward.
Paloma Piqueiras, professor of communication at the Complutense University of Madrid, believes this is the case “enormous” costs of this crisis for the socialist government. “The damage to the PSOE is real and significant, especially in terms of ethical coherence and image in sectors sensitive to equality and justice,” noted the professor at the request of LA NACION. And he added that the context of weakness given the corruption cases that hit the government exacerbates the crisis that the Spanish president is going through.
Alfredo Rodríguez Gómez, doctor of communications and university professor, expressed himself even more clearly about this crisis: “what has already become a metastasis”alluding to the numerous scandals facing the Spanish government. The academic emphasized that the harassment complaints particularly affected him because they took control of the story away from Sánchez, where the defense of women’s rights was the focus.
Criticism initially came from the opposition. “They even shelved the complaints. Now we know about the Lugo case. They are on the side of the harasser. They should have learned the lesson of feminism in the brothels from his speech during the congressional scrutiny session.
But The criticism that worries the PSOE most comes from its allieswhose support is essential to stay in power. Yolanda Díaz, vice president and leader of Sumar, called on Friday for a “deep restructuring” of the government. “The deliberations and cosmetic changes are over. There is a point and it is time to act. I have spoken to the President. There is an absolutely profound change in the government team. It cannot continue like this. What is happening is very serious, we are not in the month of July. The government must be reformulated,” the Left leader warned.
Could these sexual harassment cases spell the end of the Sánchez government? LA NACION asked. Piqueiras claimed that despite the weakness in Congress, the president maintained his leadership within the PSOE, making it difficult to gain an electoral lead without his consent. “Although at the moment it does not seem like a phenomenon that will immediately put an end to the government, It actually tightens the position of Sánchez and the PSOE in the face of future electoral challenges“, analyzed the academic. The first election date on the calendar will be very soon: next Sunday in Extremadura.
Professor Rodríguez Gómez was more explicit with his diagnosis. “Sánchez has survived many times by maintaining control of the narrative and parliamentary arithmetic, but now he is starting to lose on both fronts. This will be complicated. “The nougat is difficult for him to eat, but he shouldn’t go to the Magi because of the absolute wear and tear he suffers from,” he said. “Sánchez is resisting power because he knows that the day he leaves he could end up on the bench or in the Dominican Republic,” he added.
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