«To all those who criticize Franco I would say to put a bus in Genoa [PP national headquarters] to see what they heard. Surely they say that we must ensure that a flight does not enter Barajas, that there is no tourism ... how dare they criticize him from the PP when Ayuso, who is the president of the Community of Madrid, is the greatest hooligan against the Government of Pedro Sánchez? ». Thus he defends an important position of the PSOE to the delegate of the Government and secretary general of the PSOE-M in Madrid, José Manuel Franco, after becoming the battering ram against the regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, in recent weeks.
Publicly, Franco has been more a protagonist for his confrontational strategies than for the important position he represents. A circumstance that, together with his imputation for prevarication for allowing the manifestation of 8-M, knowing that there were already health alerts by Covid -a cause that the judge finally filed-, has placed in his eye the hurricane. «He has had a hard time this time; He is a whole and solid uncle, but he had a bad time, ”admits a person close to Franco, who has been reinforced in the organic sense, despite the fact that Sánchez did not always trust him on foot.
Since the beginning of the crisis, driven by the lack of forcefulness of his parliamentary spokesman, Ángel Gabilondo, and despite his institutional position, Franco has become the leader of the opposition against Ayuso. First, in early April, he urged the socialist mayors to go to court to denounce the situation of "abandonment" of residences in their municipalities by the regional government. Then, on May 1, an investigation was opened by the Government Delegation for the party to celebrate the closure of the temporary hospital of Ifema, organized by the Ministry of Health, for not respecting the safety distance. And a little later, just ten days ago, he indicated in a video conference with mayors and PSOE militants that the party's strategy was to "twist" the issue of residences, where nearly 6,000 elderly people died in Madrid due to Covid or with symptoms. , to provoke the rupture of the two government partners, PP and Ciudadanos, who have so far met with severe reproaches in this regard.
All this has led the PP to ask last Thursday for his disapproval in the Madrid Assembly, accusing him of "leaving office" before and during the health crisis and of using his office to attack the Ayuso government. «You cannot be a government delegate during the day and PSOE secretary general at night. It is unheard of that the government delegate is inciting Ayuso instead of helping the people of Madrid, "says Alfonso Serrano, PP spokesman at the Madrid Assembly.
Without responding to the municipalities
The popular ones list the insults from office: he has not responded to requests for help from the Community of Madrid, nor has he attended meetings of the Territorial Plan of Civil Protection (Platercam), nor has he responded to the security needs of rural municipalities in the region. "In return we saw how he dedicated himself to teaching and agitating socialist mayors, public officials and sympathizers to try to twist the issue of residences, that is, playing and doing politics with the pain of the families of the deceased," says Serrano.
In the PSOE, however, they close ranks with their leader in Madrid. "It is the first time that we have in the PSOE the double condition of government delegate and leader of the opposition party; It is a rare situation, we are seeing ... », reasons another important member of the party, where some admit that Franco" is not a fine stylist "in his attacks, referring to the video chat open to the general public where he called look for the division between PP and Citizens and that came to light after being published by Okdiario .
"It was a blunder for people from outside the party to sneak in," they admit in the formation, where many are clear that as soon as Franco manages to choose a "hard" number two for Ángel Gabilondo, to play the role of bad cop who Now he occupies, he will be able to "be more relaxed", because he will remove the responsibility of being the visible face of the attacks on Ayuso. Some attacks, even so, that the socialists see as absolutely "normal" taking into account Ayuso's attitude towards Pedro Sánchez, affirm different sources consulted.
For several socialist leaders, the PP with its criticisms and the request for disapproval only seeks to "generate victimhood". "To be criticized by a party that is constantly criticizing Sánchez for the management of the crisis is traca," sources of the formation are outraged, where Franco's leadership has become "unquestionable."
Everlasting number two
The career of this militant of the Chamartín group, of the guerrista-habitista family, is that of the success of the squire, of the everlasting number two. Anyone who is asked in the match answers in a similar way. "He is a man of apparatus", "sensible" or "second rank worker" are terms that are repeated. Affable, approachable and with clear ideas, Franco gained Sánchez's trust when he was his main supporter in the 2017 PSOE national primaries in a territory, Madrid, where he was not a favorite - in fact, despite being an affiliate of Madrid, where he was a councilor for the City Council, he remained in this community behind Susana Díaz and Patxi López-. "There José Manuel had the ability to ally himself with Pedro [he coordinated his campaign] and he did well", appreciates a historical member of the party. Shortly after winning the Sánchez primaries, and with his approval, Franco in turn won the primaries to lead the PSOE-M with 71.7% of the votes. No one in the history of training in Madrid, ever convulsed, with several families facing each other, was supported so emphatically. Fruit, in any case, of the plumbing work of Franco, who was agreeing with the different families placed in the Executive in exchange, as in the case of Sara Hernández, his predecessor, that they abandoned the electoral career or gave prominence to all the voices of the formation.
Thus, he went from being the spokesman for Gabilondo, "always with a discreet role," to leading the party at the regional level. Franco had somewhat turbulent beginnings, since his ease of creating controversies caused him some problems. Thus, he said that Madrid could be considered "a nation" in the middle of the Catalan independence process; He revealed to the press that he was working to get Manuela Carmena to get on the PSOE ship, even diluting the party on a broader platform, something that Ferraz did not like; He tried unsuccessfully to make his socialist spokesman at the Madrid City Council, Purificación Causapié, more critical of the mayor's policies; and he became involved in controversy after it was revealed that he had falsified his CV (it stated that he had a degree in Mathematics when he did not finish his degree).
In fact, after this last matter, the PSOE, as published by this newspaper in its day, came to study that it did not present, as it should have - it was a spokesman for the parliamentary group - the motion of censure against Cristina Cifuentes due to the controversy with his master. But little by little, he regained Sánchez's confidence. From his hand, the result of the PSOE in the Madrid Assembly in the last elections was quite good, touching 28% of the votes and winning the PP 32 years later, but it was not enough to govern. Sánchez rewarded his loyalty in February, when he appointed him government delegate to replace María Paz García Vera, who in turn had replaced José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes when he was appointed Minister of Culture and Sports. And in those that the pandemic came, and in March, and despite the health warnings from different organizations, he allowed the 8-M feminist demonstration, to which he himself went with his daughter, a doctor by profession.
Franco would declare before the judge that he was charged with trespass that he saw no risk. Finally, the case was shelved after a huge crisis in the central government after Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska dismissed Colonel Diego Pérez De los Cobos for "not informing" his ministry of the investigation. After the dismissal, there was a cataract of resignations at the Armed Institute.
Measured silence
While the procedure lasted, Franco kept a measured silence that broke abruptly in the middle of this month, when, in an internet chat organized by the socialist group of Galapagar, he explained to several mayors that the issue of residences and also the matter of the apartment of the Room Mate chain where the regional president stayed for work after being infected by Covid. "If Ayuso is charged with improper bribery over the apartment issue, Cs will have to be supported in a motion of censure," he said.
"When I read that we must try to promote the imputation of Mrs. Ayuso, I ask myself what kind of respect for the Rule of Law does Mr. Franco have and what kind of respect in general for the ordinary functioning of the institutions," replied the vice president, Ignacio. Watery.
Several PSOE charges defend Franco's words and some even deny that he is a Sánchez battering ram against the regional president. "In fact, it was he, along with Gabilondo, who went out to help Ayuso when Ferraz told them that a reconstruction pact had to be offered," recalls another experienced member of the PSOE-M.
For the majority, Franco comes out reinforced from the crisis and with the full support of Sánchez. "It has been well; He has cleverly handled the harassment and harassment over the 8-M. All those who have insulted him have asked for forgiveness, "says another relevant member of the party, who believes that the PP's criticism of Franco is incomprehensible when Ayuso" only wants to promote himself in this pandemic. She has not acted as a president. She is reactionary and a bad imitator of Aguirre ». "The PP has very thin skin and a very hard face", sums up another socialist deputy, who calls Franco's management "good", and who believes that in this crisis he has acted more as a delegate than as the leader of the PSOE-M . "Of course, you have to find a number two for Gabilondo, which we have been waiting for five months."
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PoliticsThe PP calls Dolores Delgado "patriotic prosecutor": "He is trying to cover up something from the 8-M"
Control session Pedro Sánchez accuses the PP of "not wanting any agreement" and urges him to withdraw the "ignominious" report that questions democracy in Spain
Covid-19Ayuso and Aguado agree to create a Reconstruction Table in the Assembly after meeting with the opposition
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