The word imminent does not mean what the dictionary says it means. Certainly not in the PSOE of Andalusia. The Andalusian socialists have been waiting for the leader of the PSOE, Pedro Sánchez, since the 41st Federal Congress was held in Seville. As a gift from Kings they asked for a general secretary, but this Monday what there was was coal.
Today it will be known if the gift arrived late and if its general secretary, Juan Espadas, will run or resign from re-election; and a few hours a day she will make it compatible with her current responsibilities in the Government as first vice president and Minister of Finance. In any case, all sources indicate that Montero is the chosen one and that Espadas will not put up a fight against an operation blessed by Sánchez.
Espadas, who called the media at 11:30 this Tuesday in Seville, plans to reveal his decision today. From January 7 to 10 at 2:00 p.m. the deadline for submitting pre-candidacies to the general secretary of the Andalusian PSOE is open, so the Sevillian leader has conspired to “not talk about anything” until today, following the planned schedule, indicate people around him.
Throughout these months, Espadas has reiterated his desire to continue in office and has challenged critics to come forward and present a leader, an alternative and a project in the primaries to elect the general secretary. Until the day before, the former mayor of Seville remained firm in his intention to continue, but since then he has avoided any public appearance and has preferred unilateral communication on social networks. He did not even attend the municipal plenary session in which the motion of censure that returned the mayor of Jaén to the PSOE was carried out.
Espadas has been losing support as the date of the congresses approached. And his long intervention at the opening of the federal conclave that he presided over as host was a kind of warning that a change of direction had to be taken. The provincial secretaries of Seville, Javier Fernández de los Ríos, and of Jaén, Paco Reyes, were very lukewarm towards him in the same 41st Federal Congress when they avoided giving express support. Both preside over their deputations, the only institutional oasis that the PSOE has left after losing the Junta, and they have played and play a very relevant role in the Andalusian organization, which has aroused suspicions, beyond usual, from other groups. Those from Cádiz, Juan Carlos Ruiz-Boix, and Córdoba, Rafi Crespín, have supported a change of leadership, and the rest, in recent weeks, have remained silent.
The current in favor of a replacement at the head of the Andalusian PSOE is very majority and in which not only critics participate, but also deputies who have seats in the Andalusian parliamentary group and in the regional executive. Beyond its small circle, the voices in favor of its continuity have not been heard. The four electoral defeats suffered by the Andalusian federation since Espadas has been general secretary have taken their toll and many are wondering if with him at the helm the Junta can be recovered or, at least, snatch away the absolute majority that the Andalusian president, Juan, has. Manuel Moreno.
The only possible alternative to inject not only vitamins, but also muscle to the former almighty PSOE of Andalusia is called María Jesús Montero. There is no other name circulating at this point. The option of Juan Francisco Serrano (Bédmar, Jaén. 36 years old), which would have represented a generational change, but a medium and long-term job, has been ruled out for a week.
This was the bet of the PSOE of Jaén and many others from all the provinces, but Serrano was only going to take the step if Montero was not the candidate. And Pedro Sánchez’s PSOE urgently needs to stop the bleeding in the Andalusian federation now and begin the task of rebuilding the party as soon as possible with a team that dedicates 24 hours to organic work, according to several leaders. Espadas has not known how or has not wanted to have a solid and stable management group, nor has he fully trusted those that he himself supported. His critics have ruined his mayoral tics, but the regional headquarters of San Vicente has long since ceased to be the Big House of the PSOE of Andalusia. There are many empty offices, as Espadas himself diagnosed when he won by 17 points over Susana Díaz in the June 2021 primaries.
On that occasion, the Sevillian professor Luis Ángel Hierro also competed, an entertainer of the primaries although with little success. Hierro will try again, although in front of him he will have, except for a major surprise, Montero, the main reference of the PSOE of Andalusia in the Government and in the party since the times of Alfonso Guerra. He does it, as he himself has acknowledged in a letter, to “promote the impoverished internal democracy.” To confirm his candidacy he needs to gather the signature of 4,900 guarantors, 12% of the regional census that has also plummeted. If in the 2021 primaries to elect the candidate for the presidency of the Board the census was 46,577 people, now it is 40,138.
