Diana Morant is now officially the new general secretary of the PSPV, the woman who must lead the Valencian socialist federation during the crossing of the desert and try to prepare the battle for the next regional elections in 2027. She must, therefore, be the reference of the main party of the Valencian left to oppose the regional executive of the PP and Vox, chaired by Carlos Mazón. The person who must symbolize the contrast of the socialist proposals against the policies of a Consell that, for the moment, is comfortable in the development of its electoral program, as confirmed last Thursday with the presentation of those five agreed law proposals between the PP and Vox that represent, de facto, a “reformist agenda”, in the words of the ombudsman Miguel Barrachina, or a “counter-reform” against the Botànic policies, according to the left, which has strongly criticized them. The Valencian legislature has now started.
In just over two years, the leadership in Valencian politics has changed, which confirms the ephemerality of that office (a reality that is often forgotten). All the protagonists of the last Valencian political cycle, the one between 2015 and 2023, have gone into the background or have retired, for different reasons. The first piece to take a step back was Isabel Bonig, who threw in the towel when she understood that the popular party wanted to bet on a rising figure who ended up becoming the Valencian president: Carlos Mazón. She was followed by Mónica Oltra, who resigned from all of her charges due to suspicions surrounding the case of her ex-husband; decision that generated a leadership crisis in Compromís that has not yet been resolved. The disappearance of the Podem leadership was conditioned by the failure at the polls last March 28. Another key piece was missing, that of Ximo Puig, who announced in December that he was taking a step back so that a woman would occupy, for the first time in the history of this party, the general secretary: Diana Morant. I believe that there has never been such a “peaceful” change in political leadership in the PSPV, largely due to the direct influence of Pedro Sánchez, who played a key role in this change.
With leadership consolidated in the Valencian PP and defined in the PSPV this weekend, the Valencian political scene takes on new interest. Well, Mazón and Morant, young politicians and both of the same generation, an important fact, symbolize two antagonistic visions of the way of understanding the management of public resources, territorial policy, social, educational, health policies and, also, the elements cultural and symbolic, such as the defense of the Valencian. The president has increasingly defined his political profile that combines the “multilaterality” of relations with other autonomies (recent visits to Catalonia, Murcia or Madrid), a clear commitment to tax reduction policies in the most current version of economic liberalism, a proven pragmatism in the health model and a firm determination to modify the Botànic’s policies in educational, cultural and symbolic matters.
In the case of Diana Morant, it remains to be verified what political profile she wants to develop after the strong legacy left by Ximo Puig, a federalist and anti-centralist politician, in the PSPV, and how she will combine her position in the Government with the defense of Valencian interests, a task at all. easy. Especially in what is called the “Valencian agenda” and which refers to financing, investments, water or debt relief. It will be complex for the new leader of the PSPV to find the right balance to establish herself as a striker of the opposition to Carlos Mazón without contravening the discipline imposed by her position as minister; complexity that the PP wants to take full advantage of. Yesterday it could be seen in Benicàssim, where the vice president and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, avoided the lack of a Government proposal to address a change in regional financing, blaming the PP and avoided referring to other issues such as debt relief or the Valencian demand (parties, employers and civil society) for a leveling fund.
It is sensed that Morant is going to contrast all the symbolic elements that nourish the social democracy championed by Pedro Sánchez against the proposals of the PP executive and Vox; This may be his strength, but also his weakness if the President of the Government is not capable of supporting his legislature. The evident complicity between the minister and the leader of the PSOE could become a problem if the political cycle in Spain changes. But in any case, Morant and Mazón are inevitably going to star in a political duel that heralds interesting episodes, even more so because both, directly or indirectly, are a reference for their national political structures: the president as regional baron (the most important of the PP in the Mediterráneo) and the minister as a trusted person of Sánchez and leader of the second Spanish socialist federation. What happens in the Valencian Community will be fundamental for the PP and the PSOE.
Valencian politics thus acquires a new interest while waiting for the leadership in Compromís to be clarified, a coalition that was fundamental in the political change of 2015, and to see the evolution of Vox in Valencia, a formation that has sunk in many autonomies and that remains anchored in an involutionist narrative that will hardly be able to be strongly sustained until 2027. The hypothesis that Carlos Mazón’s PP ends up expanding electoral space and pushing Vox out of parliament in the next regional elections is not far-fetched, rather probable. As of today, the Valencian legislature has a new ingredient, and the dialectic between Mazón and Morant is going to be one of its main attractions or, at least, that’s how it should be.
