Not a day without a manifesto of support for Pedro Sánchez, already in the final stretch of the 23-J campaign. Following the initiative promoted by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in which a large group of former socialist ministers from their governments and those of Felipe González expressed their support for the Prime Minister, another broad group of progressive leaders from around the world has signed another manifesto in favor of Sánchez released by the PSOE this Thursday, just three days before the general elections. Among them, presidents and prime ministers from both sides of the Atlantic, such as the Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva or the German Olaf Scholz. But former European and Latin American prime ministers have also shown their support for Sánchez, such as the British Gordon Brown, the Italian Enrico Letta, the French Jacques Delors or the Chilean Michelle Bachelet.
“The importance of these elections is unquestionable,” warns the manifesto signed by these progressive leaders. “The world, and especially Europe, is suffering from an unprecedented wave of conservatism. Deeply reactionary forces feed a rhetoric of tension and delegitimization of the institutions that can have serious consequences for global stability”, the document states.
Many of the presidents and prime ministers who signed this new manifesto already expressed their support for Sánchez in person, last Tuesday in Brussels, at the meeting held by the European Socialist Party (PES). Among them, the aforementioned Lula and Scholz, as well as the Argentine Alberto Fernández, the Danish Mette Frederiksen, the Portuguese António Costa, or the Maltese Robert Abela. They have also been joined by the former president of Colombia Ernesto Samper and the Greek George Papandreou, or the mayors of Paris and Rome, Anne Hidalgo and Roberto Gualtieri, among others.
“The rise of denialist narratives of climate change and science, hostile to diversity as a value to be protected or that question the advances of the feminist movement, put consolidated rights and freedoms at risk in many societies. They can also make it difficult and prevent their expansion to other parts of the planet, where they are so necessary to build fairer societies and reduce intolerable levels of poverty”, highlights the manifesto.
“Faced with proposals that despise and deny the very existence of collective values, we support societies that progress, advance and conceive of themselves based on solidarity between territories and generations. That they do not leave the most vulnerable people and regions behind or abandon them to their fate, and that they assume that progress is only possible if it implies prosperity for all citizens and the planet”, states the document signed by the progressive leaders.
The manifesto highlights that “in these turbulent years, the governments of Pedro Sánchez have responded to the challenges experienced with policies based on social justice.” “And they have shown that it is possible to boost economic growth and job creation without weakening the welfare state or sacrificing the rights of the working class or the protection of the environment,” he adds.
“With these policies, Spain has not only set itself up as an example of progressive management in the face of serious crises. It has also contributed to the construction of a fairer global order of peace and progress to eradicate this global disease called inequality”, the text underlines. Pedro Sánchez, in his opinion, “embodies the ability and commitment to govern with courage to turn this time of great transformations into opportunities for the future.” “Her leadership of hers has been key in the response at the European level to the crises derived from the pandemic. The Next Generation funds and the unprecedented mobilization of resources to respond from solidarity and unity, strengthen the foundations on which the ideal of a united Europe is based”, the text highlights.
The progressive leaders thus express “our concern about the real risk of setbacks that conservative policies represent for workers, for equality between women and men, the rights of LGTBI people, childhood, the ecological transition, education, universal and quality public health, the sustainability of the pension system or decent employment”. For this reason, the undersigned transfer their support to Sánchez’s candidacy “as the option that can add a majority of progress that gives continuity to the reforms and transformations that have made Spain a world reference in rights, freedoms and prosperity”.
