This will turn out very well!” predicted María Jesús Montero after receiving yesterday the new portfolio of first vice-president of the Central Government and Minister of Finance, and before melting into a hug with Nadia Calviño and Teresa Ribera, the three colleagues of fatigues and efforts since the first “emergency” Executive formed by Pedro Sánchez in just 24 hours after landing in Moncloa, in June 2018, after winning the motion of censure that ousted Mariano Rajoy.
As well as a political animal, as both her colleagues and her adversaries consider her, Montero (Seville, 1966) is a rising star in Sánchez’s firmament, since the president of the Spanish Government snatched her from his internal enemy , Susana Díaz, then president of the Board of Andalusia.
But Montero, as his faithful emphasized before this surprising signing of Sánchez, did not have a special Susanista affiliation. “It has its own political profile and its own criteria”, they warned. Montero was minister of Finance and Public Administrations in the Junta de Andalucía (2013-2018) with Susana Díaz, and before that she was minister of Health and Social Welfare (2012-2013) with Pepe Griñán, and even before that minister of Health and Consumption (2004-2012) with Manolo Chaves.
Sánchez urgently needed someone who already knew all the budgetary intricacies, and Montero, with long experience in the matter in the regional administration, began to see the day and night from his new office in the Ministry of Treasury, where he replaced Cristóbal Montoro. From Montoro to Montero, he was ironic then.
In Moncloa, Montero’s main attributes stand out, first of all, his great negotiating ability. And this is supported by the three consecutive general State budgets approved in the past legislature, despite Sánchez’s parliamentary minority. And another infinite number of successfully resolved negotiations within the government coalition and with the parliamentary groups.
In addition, they emphasize that she is a tireless worker, in days that last forever, with a very good hand at forming good teams. “It has technical solvency and at the same time political criteria”, they emphasize. In 2020, Sánchez appointed her as spokesperson for the Spanish Government. And two years later, he also promoted her to the party as deputy general secretary of the PSOE.
Despite the fact that many in the party bet and still bet on her to one day assume the reins of an Andalusian PSOE in need of a shake-up, others have always defended that she should aspire to the top of the ladder in the Government central Sánchez placed her fourth vice-president in November, as a springboard to now assume the first vice-presidency, a position in which she herself was placed yesterday in the line of María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, Carmen Calvo and Nadia Calviño herself.
She is now Sánchez’s number two, both in the Government and in the PSOE. Does this mean that the president is already appointing her as his successor for the future? For this, assure socialist leaders, “many things still have to happen”. But it is clear that Montero is already positioned on the first starting line, by the time this race starts.
