Noa de la Torre Valencia

Valencia

Updated Saturday, January 27, 2024-14:05

  • Politics Diana Morant runs for the first time to succeed Puig and calls for a party "without families" to avoid internal war

With all the cards already on the table, the sounds of war begin to be heard. The three candidates to lead the Valencian PSOE - barring a last-minute surprise - have already revealed their intentions. After the farewell of Ximo Puig, the Minister of Science, Diana Morant, and the general secretaries of the provinces of Alicante and Valencia,

Alejandro Soler

and

Carlos Fernández Bielsa

, choose to take over the reins of the party

, the last to confirm this Saturday that he will give step. In short, two provincial barons who throw themselves into the pool against the criteria of

Ferraz

- who advocated for a single consensus candidacy - and a minister who denies being Pedro Sánchez's chosen one.

The three met this Saturday in the national committee of the PSPV-PSOE that ratified the calendar for the primaries and the extraordinary congress. And the three continue to leave the door open to possible agreements that avoid reaching the first round on February 25 with a divided party and with their swords held high. To the point that the Government delegate in the Valencian Community,

Pilar Bernabé

, left a message in the air: "We must leave wars and warlords behind." Without saying it, the number two of the Valencian PSOE positioned herself on Morant's side. And with it, all the

xismism

, that is, those related to the former Valencian president.

In fact, both Soler and Bielsa have arrived at the socialist conclave supported by their respective teams and groups of faithful. The "families" that Morant criticized precisely on Friday, to question the now traditional clash of blocs that usually marks the future of the socialist federation. The minister, on the contrary, has preferred to arrive alone, only accompanied by the leader of

UGT

in the Valencian Community (the unionist vote, by the way, is important). She argues that hers is a transversal profile.

Pointed out by everyone as Ferraz's favorite, the former mayor of

Gandía

wanted to shake off a label that suggests that it is Madrid that wants to remotely direct the Valencian federation: "I am not Ferraz's candidate. I owe it to militancy," she said. , to advance that on Monday he will officially present his candidacy. On her jacket, however, she wore the "perro sanxe" badge.

So both Soler and Bielsa play the trick of appealing to militancy, aware that it was precisely what elevated Sánchez in his day. "The militancy wants a change in the party model," said Bielsa, who has acknowledged that the idea is shared with Soler. "We share this objective and that militancy must speak." The truth, however, is that neither of them wanted to give up presenting themselves to join forces against Morant.

One month before the primaries, the question remains whether there is still room for an agreement. Soler has made it clear what his offer is: he as general secretary of the PSPV-PSOE and Morant, as a candidate for the

Generalitat

in 2027. A bicephaly that, according to socialist sources, Morant rejects.

Soler has hinted that the Valencian federation can hardly be run by someone whose institutional agenda keeps him outside the

Valencian Community

for most of the week: "Today the person who can best run the organization has to be general secretary."

"Within two or three years, Diana may be the most suitable person to be a candidate for the Presidency of the Generalitat," he added. "We understand that she is the person who can best project the image of the Community and win." From the minister's entourage, on the contrary, they insist that Morant goes all out. In other words, she is willing to take the risk of a primary and she will not accept a consolation prize.