Valencia, (EFE).- The PSOE has inaugurated its municipal convention this Saturday in Valencia, where it has gained momentum for the May elections with recognition of the history of the party and the work of the current Government of Pedro Sánchez, present in the speeches by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and María Jesús Montero.
Zapatero and Montero two of the protagonists
The former President of the Government and the Deputy Secretary General of the PSOE and Minister of Finance have been two of the protagonists at the inauguration of this meeting, conceived as the great prelude to the municipal and regional elections in May but which has not been attended by socialist barons beyond the Valencian Ximo Puig, as host, and the Andalusian, Juan Espadas.
Housing Law
The other protagonists have been the mayors and socialist candidates for the municipal elections, who upon their arrival at the event have highlighted the importance of the Housing Law as an electoral asset.
A law to which both Zapatero and Montero have alluded in their speeches, in which they have conveyed their encouragement and recognition to the socialist candidates and have extolled the trajectory of the PSOE. “We stand out because we have a sense of party, of country (… ) 143 years of history accompany us, we have always thought of the general interest, always prioritizing the interest of the citizenry, and we have been loyal”, said Zapatero.
The former president has indicated that the PSOE is the party that has won the most general, regional and municipal elections and has predicted that it will be the one that will win the most “in the immediate future”. In his speech he expressly praised the figure of the Valencian president, Ximo Puig, and the mayor of Vigo, Abel caballero, of whom he has said that he will win by “absolute majority for sure”.
And he has been especially eloquent with the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, who will close the convention on Sunday and whom he has thanked for his “courage” in applying the pardons to the leaders of the process.
Montero advocates “recovering trust”
For his part, Montero has commented that it is necessary to “restore trust” so that citizens “trust again in the initials” of the PSOE, a party that “has always obtained the majority to continue governing.”
Some say that the PSOE is risking it on May 28 and I think, no, the PSOE is not risking it, the men and women who have no more patrimony than the politics that comes from a party that wants the interest are risking it general of the majority of this country”, he assured.
In addition, the number two of the PSOE has taken advantage of her intervention to criticize those political organizations that are born “temporarily” and “do not take root” in the territories, since she assures that “the wave passes and leaves no trace”, in an implicit allusion to parties like Unidas Podemos.
The socialists will debate throughout Saturday on issues such as the 2030 Agenda or the figure of women in local power, a talk attended by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.
In addition, the PSOE will begin to work on the bases for the party’s framework program for the municipal elections in May, which will include measures such as facilitating access to public housing, designing “more feminist” street streets and fines through municipal ordinances for ” street harassment”, in line with what the law of only yes is yes dictates.
Four working groups have been organized to establish the framework programme: social, supportive and healthy municipalities (coordinated by the mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero); that of sustainable municipalities (coordinated by the mayor of Seville, Antonio Muñoz); that of smart and safe municipalities (coordinated by the PSOE candidate for Madrid City Council, Reyes Maroto) and that of municipalities without a gender gap (coordinated by the mayoress of Toledo, Milagros Tolón).
The Socialists arrive at this convention in good spirits and confident, although aware that the results of the regional and municipal elections in May will depend, in many places, to a large extent on the amount obtained by the blocks on the right and left.
Sources from the Socialist Federal Executive acknowledge that there is concern in this regard, especially in the Balearic Islands and somewhat in Aragon, and there was concern at the time in the Valencian Community, although the latest surveys give Ximo Puig’s PSOE a greater advantage, for which reason they trust to maintain the power.
In the case of Seville, there is also great hope of keeping the mayor’s office in the hands of the current mayor, Antonio Muñoz, although they acknowledge that the result is not clear because it is necessary to add with the left.