“It is not an imposition but Pedro Sánchez has led the way. He wants a generational change and Diana Morant is positioned as the best positioned to lead the PSPV.” With this phrase, a prominent socialist leader summarizes the majority feeling of the party after the announcement by the still leader of the Valencian socialists, Ximo Puig, to “take a step aside” and open a new stage in the second federation of the PSOE with “new leadership, strategies and teams.” Puig will leave his seat in Les Corts in the coming days and may end up in Paris as an OECD ambassador.
“It is time to take a step back so that the project can take two steps forward,” said yesterday the former president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Ximo Puig, who received the warmth of his people in the form of applause and affectionate comments during the speeches of the National Committee. Under the watchful eye of the Secretary of Organization, Santos Cerdán – on tour in Valencia and Alicante these days -, Puig announced an extraordinary congress to elect a new secretary general in the first quarter of 2024.
The Valencian leader – who will remain in office until the conclave – justified the haste because “not a moment can be lost” to “invigorate a social democratic and Valencian project” and build a “political alternative” to the current government of the Generalitat Valenciana . This haste also wants to prevent possible internal brawls – so typical of the Valencian socialists until the arrival of Puig – from being prolonged for too long.
At all costs they want to prevent “what happened like in 1995” when, after losing the regional elections, the PSPV was condemned to 20 years of opposition, a fact that the Secretary of Federal Organization recalled yesterday in a notice to sailors. Because there were doubts about him, Cerdán appealed to “dialogue, high-mindedness and a lot of unity to face the renewal process.”
In this context, there is not much room for maneuver to put together a candidacy, which makes the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, position herself as the great favorite to succeed Puig. “There are not many more options,” they said yesterday from Ximo Puig’s entourage.
Given the doubt that may arise in the party about the inconveniences of leading the party from Madrid, those who are clear that it will be Morant remember that the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, is, in turn, secretary general of the PSOE of the Canary Islands. Sources from the PSPV point out that the Canary Islands minister is the example of Pedro Sánchez’s idea of ??”opposing the PP from the Government.” A circumstance that would explain, in part, the signing of two of the mainstays of the PSPV parliamentary group as Secretaries of State.
In this sense, they point out to La Vanguardia that the President of the Government and Secretary General has directly opted for a “generational change” and, with the decision to keep Diana Morant as the only Valencian minister, he has sent a message to the militancy and the leadership. of the PSPV. Morant is close to Puig, but her great affinity with Sánchez cannot be denied. Therefore, the feeling that was felt yesterday at the UGT headquarters – where the National Committee was held – that it is the one with the greatest numbers of emerging victorious with this express renewal.
Despite this, during his speech, Santos Cerdán – received with applause as the great architect of the investiture agreement – ??was politically very correct and assured that the Valencian socialists will have the support of the federal leadership in the renewal process that begins without interference: “We will respect what the PSPV militants decide.”
These words were taken from those around the leader of the PSPV in Valencia, Carlos Fernández Bielsa, one of the few who could challenge Morant’s candidacy. Before hearing Puig’s speech, the mayor of Mislata had indicated that the decision on the new general secretary will be made by the militants.
In his turn to speak, Bielsa appealed to “unity, generosity” but also to “the autonomy” of the federation. With the favoritism of the minister, those around the provincial leader limit themselves to saying that a period of reflection is opening until after the holidays.
Most of the interventions, including that of the general secretary of Alicante, Alejandro Soler – who already offered to have more internal responsibility in the party – were in the form of praise for Puig, on the day of his farewell. Only the union of Soler and Bielsa (Alicante and Valencia) could cause problems for the minister.
However, the PSPV leadership believes that Soler is a “pragmatic” person who “knows how to negotiate” and that he will not torpedo a unity candidacy. “Now, it is true that both parties will push in the weeks prior to the congress to obtain income in the form of positions in the new leadership,” the same sources admit.