While the Prime Minister—who has gone three years without an approved budget, lacks a parliamentary majority, and is surrounded by corruption on all sides—insists on staying in power “until 2027 and beyond,” some historic leaders of the PSOE seem determined to fight back.
This weekend, Emiliano García-Page, the president of Castilla-La Mancha and a long-standing figure within the party, mounted a fierce defense of state institutions, warning that “whoever retreats into a bunker usually ends up in prison” and calling for new elections—a demand shared by the PP, Vox, PNV, Junts, Podemos, and a large portion of the country. Joining him, another respected PSOE leader, Ramón Jáuregui, has publicly called for an Extraordinary Congress of the party. The former Minister of the Presidency under Zapatero has requested this congress so that grassroots members can decide the party’s future.
“The time has come for the party to react and launch a strong renewal movement for the immediate future, as well as an ideological realignment in the face of the massive challenges confronting us today,” Jáuregui wrote in an op-ed published in El Correo. “It is time to recover an internal debate that we currently lack, to reflect on what is happening to us, and to offer a renewed project.”
The immense rift between the former leaders and the current leadership is well known within the party. It is particularly painful for members that the party’s greatest figurehead, former Prime Minister Felipe González, has publicly stated that he will not vote for the PSOE as long as Sánchez remains at the helm.
