The professor of Public Economics at the University of Seville Luis Ángel Hierro (Jimena de la Frontera, Cádiz, 61 years old) has announced tonight that he will present . Hierro already competed in the previous primaries against the current general secretary, Juan Espadas, and the last socialist president of the Junta de Andalucía, Susana Díaz. On that occasion, Espadas won with 55% of the votes, compared to 38% for Díaz and 5% for Hierro.
In a letter, the Sevillian professor explains that his decision is due to the need to promote internal competition. He explains it like this: “The diatribes about people have been in the press for months, but so far only the current secretary general, Juan Espadas, has expressed his willingness to attend the primaries. We will soon know if it is he who puts a face to the ruling party, electorally defeated in but whatever the name, with the regulations that have been approved in the 41st Federal Congress, the militancy will not have any participation in the process of electing whoever occupies the general secretary if more than one candidate attends the collection of endorsements. For that reason alone, to boost the impoverished internal democracy, it is worth participating as a pre-candidate.”
Hierro already competed in the primaries held in 2014, which Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba won against Carme Chacón.
The deadline for submitting pre-candidacies in the PSOE of Andalusia is from January 7 to 10 at 2:00 p.m. According to the new Statutes of the PSOE, to aspire to this position it is necessary to present 12% of signatures on the census, which in the Andalusian case is 40,138. According to Hierro, it would need the endorsement of 4,900 militants.
In the Andalusian PSOE, a majority takes for granted the replacement of Juan Espadas as head of the general secretary and bets on the first vice president, Minister of Finance and deputy general secretary of the PSOE, María Jesús Montero.
