Madrid (EFE).- None of the major parties plans to hold primaries to choose a candidate in the general elections on July 23 and therefore, except for last-minute surprises, the heads of the list will be Pedro Sánchez (PSOE), Alberto Núñez Feijóo (PP), Santiago Abascal (Vox) and Yolanda Díaz (Sumar Movement).
In the case of the PSOE, the general rule is to hold primaries to elect the candidate for the Presidency of the Government, except when the president is a socialist and is running for re-election, as is currently the case with Pedro Sánchez.
However, the statutes of the PSOE contemplate the possibility that in cases like this there will be primaries if agreed by the Federal Committee, the party’s highest body between congresses, made up of the members of the Federal Executive Commission of the PSOE, the regional general secretaries and the socialist spokesmen of the Congress and the Senate, among other positions.
It would also be possible to hold primaries if requested by the majority of members of this body or more than 30% of the militancy and direct affiliation of the PSOE, something that seems unlikely since no one in the party has publicly demanded that a candidate run in the elections. different from Sanchez.
Therefore, the forecast is that Sánchez will be officially designated a candidate for the Presidency of the Government in the Federal Committee that the party will hold on June 10, which will also approve the electoral program of the PSOE and ratify the electoral lists for Congress and the Senate.
In the PP the candidate is the president of the party
In the case of the PSOE, the candidate for president of the Government does not have to coincide with the position of general secretary of the party, although it does happen in the case of Sánchez.
However, the statutes of the PP indicate in its article 35.4 that the national president of the formation “will be the party’s candidate for the Presidency of the Government”, without the need for primaries.
For this reason, the PP should not carry out any procedure to officially designate Alberto Núñez Feijóo as a candidate for the general elections.
Feijóo replaced Pablo Casado at the head of the PP on April 2 of last year, when he received the vote of 98.35% of his party’s delegates, who elected him after the affiliates gave him 99.63% of their support. in a symbolic vote, since the Galician leader was the only candidate.
Vox does not contemplate primaries for an election
For its part, Vox only maintains primaries for the election every four years of its national president and does not contemplate them for the election of the candidate for the Presidency of the Government, who must be appointed by the National Executive Committee of the party.
And although the party statutes do not directly link the national president with the candidate chosen for the general elections, it is usual for them to coincide.
For this reason, there is no doubt that Santiago Abascal, who was elected president of Vox in 2020 and will remain at the head of the party until 2024, will be the head of the party’s list in the next elections.
Yolanda Díaz will be Sumar’s candidate
With Ciudadanos out of action, since it has decided not to run in the general elections, the other major party running on 23J is the Sumar Movement, led by the Vice President of the Government, Yolanda Díaz, and which has just been officially registered under that name. .
Díaz will be the candidate of this new formation, but the question is how to integrate other left-wing parties, mainly Podemos, into the lists, which he proposed as a condition for joining the project that there be open primaries in which everyone who registers could vote .
However, the surprise call of the generals on July 23 makes it unfeasible for primaries to be held in Sumar and Podemos is not considering it either due to the pressure of deadlines, although it is not ruled out that they submit to a vote of those registered in the formation ratification of the agreement with Sumar in the event that it is achieved.
Yes, there are some minority forces that have shown their willingness to join Díaz’s lists, such as Los Verdes Equo, who are already holding primaries to choose the names that will go on Sumar’s candidacies.