“This government rents the Spaniards”

The general secretary of the PSOE and president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has asked for a vote this Sunday for the progressive candidacy of Miguel Ángel Gallardo against the “two ballots that represent the involution” of Extremadura of PP and Vox, after admitting that “mistakes may have been made” in reference to cases of corruption and sexual harassment in his party.

Sánchez, who predicted in Cáceres that Gallardo will open “a new stage” for Extremadura, has recognized the harshness of the political situation, asking himself: “When have we socialists had it easy?”

“We are not living in an easy time,” said Pedro Sánchez, who reminded the founder of the PSOE, Pablo Iglesias, and his generation, “that every time they took a step they were risking their freedom and even their lives to always defend, without taking a step back, the well-being and rights of the majority of ordinary people.”

In his speech, Pedro Sánchez defended the need to fight for the idea of ​​equality: “The idea is very clear, our passion for equality, with all its consequences, in all its derivatives.” The socialist leader assured that his party has “a purpose” and that “all social conquests” have come “from the Socialist Party” both in Extremadura and in Spain, after recognizing that “we will have made mistakes, like everyone else.”

Sánchez recalled that the PSOE is a feminist party and recalled the law promoted by the Government to make anti-harassment protocols mandatory in political parties.

The general secretary of the PSOE also referred in his speech to the interview of the president of the Episcopal Conference this Sunday in La Vanguardia, in which he proposed three options for Spanish politics: motion of censure, motion of confidence or electoral advancement. Sánchez has said that he finds it “curious” that “when the right governs, they do not say that the elections will be brought forward, nor that there will be a motion of censure, nor that there will be a motion of confidence.”

Sánchez has addressed Luis Argüello directly to tell him that “there is a fourth option”: “respect the electoral result even if you don’t like it.” After that, he also proposed that he run for election alongside Christian Lawyers, and added that “the time in which bishops interfered in politics ended when democracy began in this country,” which caused applause from those in attendance, who stood up.

“Spanish men and women are rented by this government,” said Sánchez, who has defended the increases in pensions in accordance with the CPI, scholarships for young people, increases in the interprofessional minimum wage, paternity leave or for victims of gender violence “to have a feminist government that does not take a step back.” “Of course,” he exclaimed, amid shouts of “President, president!”

At another point in his speech, Sánchez went so far as to state that “thank goodness we govern”, after listing some of the crises that his governments have faced, with references to the La Palma volcano, the energy crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic or “two wars”. “Thank goodness we governed so that when the pandemic arrived, instead of having EREs in companies, there were ERTEs,” said the President of the Government, who has defended that his policies are “reindustrializing the country.”

Sánchez has defended that governing “is an honor” and is “showing your face”; “to be tough and tough” and face the problems, which he has faced with the government of Mariano Rajoy, of whom he has said that he played “the ostrich” in the face of the problems. “This attitude of facing debates, of proposing solutions, of choosing the truth even if it hurts and of facing situations even if they are difficult, makes us as a party better. The Government too, and that makes Spain a much better country than the one we inherited,” he added.

The socialist politician has stressed that the PSOE acts “forcefully” in the face of cases of harassment or corruption, unlike the PP, due to its “connivance” with the cases at hand. “We are the first to put this protocol in place and we do it forcefully and with transparency. The same happens with corruption, which is a betrayal of the Socialist Party and our principles. We act forcefully and root out this case, while on the right what we see is collusion,” he criticized.

“Have we forgotten that Mr. Feijóo is president of the Popular Party because Mr. Casado denounced the corruption of Mrs. Ayuso and Mr. Feijóo’s connivance is what led him to the head of the Popular Party?” Sánchez exclaimed, after which he insisted: “But what lessons are they going to give us!”

“Yes, it is worth governing in complex circumstances because it is profitable for Spaniards to have the Socialist Party govern with this progressive government coalition,” Sánchez insisted, despite the fact that the cost of living “has increased,” in response to which he acknowledged that the Government’s economic measures are not “sufficient.”

“We already know that it is not enough, because this wonderful State that we have also requires the commitment of the autonomous governments,” said the leader of the PSOE, who recalled the deliveries of economic resources from the Executive to the autonomous communities for education, health or social services and that the PP is “delivering to the elites” or to private health.

Gallardo anticipates “a big surprise” for the right

The socialist candidate for the presidency of the Board, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, who has intervened before the party leader, has predicted that on the 21st “the right is going to get a big surprise”, while asking the socialists not to “wrinkle” in this last week of the campaign and to fill the ballot boxes “with fists and roses” to “change the history of Extremadura”.

During his speech, Gallardo called on his ranks to make an “extra effort” in recent days to “convince that it is necessary to go to vote” to choose between a PP model that is committed to “speculation over the law” and that “lied” to sectors such as education, or one of the PSOE that, he stressed, “believes in public schools” and looks to the “new economy” that “young people are asking for.”

“Extremadura never did well with the right. Neither in democracy nor in dictatorship. The policies that really promoted this land were made by socialist governments,” reflected the leader from Badajoz, who encouraged the attendees, remembering that “there is nothing written.”

Gallardo has also referred to the cases of sexual harassment that have come to light in recent days and which he said “have embarrassed everyone.” “In our party there is no room for those who say that they are colleagues, but that they are whores, that they are abusers,” she reiterated, after which she thanked her socialist colleagues who “have encouraged these people to leave” the PSOE.

The socialist candidate has also addressed the right in this sense, asking them not to give lessons on equality: “the PP of Extremadura has in its ranks, in a camouflaged manner, a mayor firmly convicted of mistreatment.” “They are not going to give us lessons. None,” defended Miguel Ángel Gallardo, who has described the PSOE as “the feminist party that is going to continue taking steps, that is going to separate those who do not respect women, but that fundamentally is going to respect them inside and outside of it.”