“Internal cannibalism” spreads in the PSOE as it awaits the day after Sánchez

Just over a year ago, the PSOE closed its 41st Federal Congress in Seville with a message from the re-elected secretary general, Pedro Sánchez, on the offensive, trying to boost the morale of the Socialists at a very difficult time due to a very intense judicial agenda. The situation is now worse, much worse. The photo of the federal executive committee no longer includes the then secretary of organization, Santos Cerdán, or his predecessor, José Luis Ábalos, both of whom have been charged with corruption. Judicial investigations are multiplying and, at the top of this pile of debris, is the case of Paco Salazar, another of the president's men, accused of sexual harassment and abuse of power. There are those in the PSOE who argue that the sum of all these fronts is leading to a situation of “internal cannibalism” to control the party after Pedro Sánchez. Many see this as friendly fire from Sanchismo against Sanchismo, and although no one has yet come forward to name names, those who have been left behind by Sánchez are the first to be mentioned. “They are wrestling over what will happen after Pedro Sánchez,” says a veteran leader close to the prime minister. “It's about weakening Sánchez with a view to the post-Sánchez era,” says a regional leader. “This is a fight by Sanchismo against Sanchismo, taking advantage of the Salazar, Ábalos, and Cerdán cases to reposition themselves and take over the party,” says a provincial secretary general. In this context, some socialist sources interpret Adriana Lastra as having been the most demanding voice that Sánchez has encountered in the Salazar case. The Asturian leader was a loyal supporter of Sánchez from the outset and resigned as deputy secretary general after a dispute with Cerdán in which the socialist leader sided with the latter. She is now the government delegate in the Principality. She is very careful with her public statements, but she clearly marks her profile as a feminist reference point in a PSOE embarrassed by the behavior of those who have been at the top. “Every time there is a scandal or the slightest criticism, the finger-pointer is blamed, and that is tiresome,” objects a former regional leader. Another senior member who has supported Sánchez since the 2014 primaries agrees that “it is clear that the movements have already begun.” “There are those who want to cash in,” agrees an Andalusian leader. A member of the PSC leadership sees it similarly: "It's a war of positions. Some people believe there will be elections sooner rather than later and are positioning themselves for the future." Adding to the tension caused by the corruption cases, new allegations of sexual harassment have emerged this week. Privately, some leaders admit their fear that the mechanism set up by the PSOE to facilitate complaints will end up being used as a weapon internally. The argument put forward by Toni González, mayor of Almussafes (Valencia), who claimed to be the victim of “revenge,” but resigned from his official positions on Saturday, forced by the regional leader, Diana Morant. "My great fear is that there may be false accusations from people interested in gaining something from it. Then we will all lose ideologically as a party and the far right will win, which is expert at turning an example into the general rule," warns an organization secretary from one of the largest federations. A minister with organizational power disagrees: “When there is a case, you have to react, period.” All the sources consulted, whether critical or aligned with Ferraz and La Moncloa, deny that there is any “revolution” underway, although the atmosphere within the PSOE is increasingly turbulent. “These are isolated cases with no connection between them,” explains a member of Congress. Sánchez does not face any critical opposition, beyond the public opposition of Emiliano García Page and a few veterans with no organizational weight. The regional leaders who were beginning to question him, such as Juan Lobato, Luis Tudanca, and the late Javier Lambán, were replaced at recent congresses. Since then, influential federations such as Andalusia, Valencia, Madrid, and Aragon have been led by ministers, who will begin to be tested at the polls starting in February. In the case of the Andalusian PSOE, there are those who believe that it will be after the regional elections, although no date has been set, when an “implosion” will occur. In regions such as Cantabria and Murcia, there were very close primaries, and the internal struggle will reignite if the elections do not go well. In Galicia, in addition to poor results, this week has seen a crisis caused by one of its strongmen following accusations of sexual harassment. José Tomé has resigned as president of the Lugo Provincial Council and provincial secretary, but remains as mayor and independent deputy. Various sources deny that there is anything “structured,” although if there are people thinking about the post-Sánchez era “for a long time,” it is because it was Pedro Sánchez himself who brought about this situation when he threatened to resign after taking five days to reflect (from April 24 to 29, 2024) following the indictment of his wife. He ruled it out after hearing the pleas of socialist leaders in a cathartic federal committee for him to stay. "The president himself put us in this situation when he threatened to leave. Many of us thought: what do we do now? People came to mind for all of us, and that is still on the minds of many." Last July, Sánchez admitted in Congress that he had considered resigning after the UCO report on Santos Cerdán. Now, whenever he has the opportunity, he repeats that he wants to run again. Some see a certain parallel with the situation that arose in October 2016 when the party apparatus agreed to oust Sánchez from the general secretary position in order to support the investiture of PP leader Mariano Rajoy as prime minister, which is what happened. "When, as is natural, the elections are lost, there are two possibilities: that Pedro will retire or continue. And there are those who are not interested in that or in waiting for an agreement between the PP and Vox. What happened in 2016 during Rajoy's investiture will be repeated: supporting the PP without Vox," says a leader who experienced that drama firsthand and close to Sánchez. Others believe that scenario is more unlikely now, after the alliances between the PP and Vox. The PSOE is in the midst of all these storms at a time of great institutional weakness (it only presides over Catalonia, Castilla La Mancha, Asturias, and Navarre and co-governs in the Basque Country) and organizational weakness. It is a party marked by Sánchez's hyper-leadership and with a federal headquarters still in shock after the indictment of its two former secretaries of organization. The current secretary, Rebeca Torró, has kept a very low profile since her appointment last July. She took office amid the controversial departure of Paco Salazar, whom Sánchez trusted to oversee the party's engine room. Various sources claim that another veteran, Antonio Hernando, is now in charge of the most sensitive internal affairs and monitoring legal matters. Sánchez brought him back in 2021 after he broke ranks in the 2017 primaries. According to sources at the top of the PSOE, he has an office on the fifth floor of Ferraz, a headquarters where all traces of the Sánchez supporters who stood by the president after the great internal battle of the 2017 primaries have been erased.