A hundred militants held a meeting on Wednesday afternoon in a room at the UGT headquarters in Madrid where, after the cascade of scandals affecting the party, they advocated for an Extraordinary Congress, the call for general elections this year, and that Pedro Sánchez leave the party’s general secretariat and not run for re-election as Prime Minister. “We are a grassroots movement; most of us are not organic cadres nor are we dedicated to politics, and that gives us the freedom that party leaders do not have to say what we think: the situation is unsustainable,” explains Laura López Mendizábal, a 31-year-old doctor in Biology and a member of the university socialist group.
42 militants from a dozen PSOE groups in Madrid, affiliated with local community centers such as those in Retiro, Chamberí, Chamartín, and Vallecas, attended the call. Some active councilors from the metropolitan area also attended, requesting not to be identified, according to the organizers. In addition, about fifty militants from Andalusia, Catalonia, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia, Extremadura, and La Rioja connected via streaming, according to the consulted sources. A good part of the participants supported Sánchez against Susana Díaz in the 2017 primaries and also gave him their support in 2014, when he was proclaimed first general secretary after defeating Eduardo Madina.
“We are accused of being fachosfera, of traitors, when the only thing we defend is that the party is above individuals. Just for saying this, they call us disloyal, but if in a neighborhood group the organization secretary dips his hand in the till, responsibilities are cleared, and that also applies to the general secretary,” says the militant who acts as spokesperson for the initiative along with four other party members.
The group of affiliates approved a manifesto in which they urge “not to remain passive in the face of the crucial moment of widespread distrust” affecting their party. “It’s not okay to ignore everything. It’s not okay to stay on the sidelines. It’s not okay to take refuge in silence when democracy, politics, and democratic socialism itself are going through a credibility crisis that demands clear answers,” they encourage in their letter to PSOE militants, sympathizers, and voters, headed with the slogan ReActiva + Socialdemocracia.
The promoters of the movement start from the premise that “only a strong, clean, democratic PSOE connected with society can curb the growth of a disruptive, reactionary, and anti-political far-right.” The response, in their opinion, should be “a structural reflection and a serious renewal” in the face of the “period of internal upheaval” that the PSOE is going through, “with episodes that have affected its public image and raise questions about control mechanisms, organizational culture, and exemplary conduct.”
The hundred militants insist that the PSOE “cannot limit itself to resisting or managing day-to-day affairs” and “needs to offer a horizon again.” From their perspective, calling general elections would not be a concession to the right, but an act “of democratic hygiene.” “When public trust deteriorates, when the Government dedicates more energy to defending itself than to governing, and when the legislature is trapped in a credibility crisis, the democratic thing to do is to return the word to the citizenry,” they argue. And they add: “Elections are not a threat: they are the constitutional mechanism to unblock a political crisis.”
Along these lines, the affiliates believe that Sánchez cannot be the candidate in the next legislative elections. “It’s not about denying his successes or erasing his period. It’s about recognizing that his political cycle is exhausted and that the PSOE cannot go into elections transformed into the personal defense of a leadership,” they argue. “A historic party cannot be reduced to the survival of a leader. Sánchez can provide one last important service to the PSOE: facilitate an orderly transition,” they request in the letter.
The Extraordinary Congress would serve to “debate freely, elect a new leadership, and define a new political project.” Sánchez also could not run to continue as general secretary: “Regeneration cannot be led by someone who represents the exhaustion of the previous stage.”
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