Diana Morant wants to lead the PSPV and is willing to present a candidacy for the congress that must resolve the new leadership of the Valencian socialist federation after Ximo Puig’s announcement to take a step back. This is stated by sources close to the Minister of Science and Universities, who add that her will is so firm that even she would fight for this objective even if other candidates present themselves.
One of the hypotheses that have been evaluated these days is that if Alejandro Soler, deputy and provincial secretary of the PSPV in Alicante, or Carlos Fernández Bielsa, mayor of Mislata and general secretary of the PSPV in the province of Valencia, the minister would not appear at the combat. From the premise that entering into a primary conflict could damage the image of Diana Morant, which she would relate to as Pedro Sánchez’s bet.
But the sources consulted do not rule out that she will take the step no matter who comes forward. Although the ideal, according to sources close to Ximo Puig, is that an agreement can be reached to avoid a confrontation scenario. In fact, the parties in conflict continue to dialogue and even hope that between now and next Monday, which is when the PSPV executive will be held, an agreement can be reached. The weekend event in A Coruña, where all the families will meet, could be decisive, according to different sources.
In the Galician city the three hypothetical candidates will face each other and both the President of the Government and leader of the PSOE, Pedro Sánchez, and the head of Organization, Santos Cerdán, will be present.
There is no meeting planned, but there are those who believe that Ferraz may choose to sit those involved at the same table to close a minimum agreement that avoids a confrontational congress.
Alejandro Soler’s will to present his candidacy is firm. In fact, he wanted to do it before last Monday, which is when the PSPV executive was called and was suspended for the second consecutive time. On that occasion, Soler was stopped from Ferraz with the aim of gaining time to try to unite interests in a single candidacy and prevent Diana Morant from having rivals in a possible primary process. In this poker game of Valencian socialism, Bielsa remains in the background, watching the movements between Diana and Soler, convinced that he has good numbers after having gained support in the province of Valencia from people who were related to former minister José Luis Ábalos. For this reason, he does not give up running and does not fear a confrontational congress with two or more rivals.
Morant’s entourage believes that she is the best option, and ensures that “she can add together everyone’s interests.” But the political families of Soler and Bielsa continue to observe the minister’s solution as a kind of “tutelage” from the leadership of the PSOE. And it is noted that she does not have enough support to reach the leadership of the Valencian federation on her own. “With Soler and Bielsa united, she would never win,” these sources point out. The problem is that the man from Alicante wants to top the list and Bielsa is not willing to give in because her environment assures that she has more support.
A situation that causes everything to be paralyzed waiting for a definitive movement that sets the entire congressional mechanism in motion. And meanwhile, the socialists continue to look at the calendar to see how they can hold a congress with all the guarantees before March 2.
