Resist in Moncloa or Call Elections Now?

The latest developments surrounding the corruption cases involving Ábalos, Koldo, and Cerdán, together with their successive entry into prison—and the release of the last one—are difficult to digest for citizens who believe in the values of democracy and do not want Spain to fall into the hands of Ayuso’s supporters and ultras. The wave advancing across the West, led by Trump and with the tech giants as the supreme power, has reached the doors of Congress and could potentially seize the absolute majority of the seats.

“This situation fills me with indignation, but it does not prevent me from reflecting on what we must do to avoid weakening further and to push back that tide as much as possible”

This situation fills me with indignation, but it does not prevent me from reflecting on what we must do to avoid weakening further and to push back that tide as much as possible, without ceasing to recognize that we are witnessing a cycle change, with a thinning of the democratic system and of public life. It strikes me as foolish and useless to fall into the “you too” response as a reaction to the harassment from that right with reactionary discourses which, by the way, aim to dismantle the social rights state and privatize politics.

We already know their record of corruption and the not-especially exemplary behaviors of Feijóo, Aznar, Ayuso, Rato, Rajoy… or Mazón. But it was to be expected, because they lack political ethics and never boasted about values like honesty nor did they ever defend the foundations on which a rule-of-law state rests. I think of the separation of powers, with the independence of the judiciary and the primacy of Parliament, in the oversight of governments, or in the real protection of fundamental rights.

The Role of the PSOE in the Current Legislature

The public expected something different from the PSOE. A willingness to take responsibility? That is why it pains me so much that the president has not undertaken a period of reflection on society’s weariness with partisan sectarianism, constant political confrontation, and the corruption scandals that stain Ferraz and Moncloa. I do not agree that, in the face of what a right-wing comeback would mean, we should justify staying in La Moncloa at all costs, now without a majority of support and without budgets, simply to block them. In this scenario, viewed in terms of democratic legitimacy, elections cannot wait, especially if the president believes he can win them. Or not?

I said we should block them. I wonder for how long and with what degree of wear and discredit we will have to go to general elections. I wonder what will happen if we do not calculate how to recapture local and regional institutions in order to be in a stronger position to face a political endgame. To that end, we must separate electoral processes and imagine different scenarios.

In 2018 we proposed a motion of censure against M. Rajoy, as reflected in Ábalos’s intervention in the plenary: with renewed enthusiasm, a purpose to rectify, and ideas for renewal. In November 2023 we won Junts’s support for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez after political concessions unimaginable weeks earlier. We had to swallow a lot and hold meetings in Geneva between Puigdemont and Cerdán that filled us with a knot in the throat.

“After not presenting the motion of confidence (cuestión de confianza), we lost the opportunity to promote a turning point and to demonstrate an ethical, healing gesture”

Recently, we lost the opportunity to promote a turning point and to show an ethical, healing gesture to the vices of political life. It was about the possible presentation by the president of a motion of confidence after losing the parliamentary majority in the Congress and the corruption scandals surrounding the PSOE. But Moncloa acted like an ostrich and decided that the best course was to stand firm and not risk losing. The fear of democracy makes our path increasingly agonizing and exhausting.

In these eight years of progressive governments we have achieved undeniable social gains and legislative advances. We have managed in moments of alarm and gravity for Spain’s cohesion, also in an international context shaped by the consequences of wars. Yet the Government has achieved solid macroeconomic results.

But “the other part” we have done badly. And I say this based on my experience as a member of the Federal Executive Committee (CEF) in Ferraz during those years and as a deputy for eleven years in Congress. We have not managed to strengthen democracy, disillusionment has grown, and today confidence in institutions has fallen. In short: we have lacked democratic sensitivity and we carry a substantial number of unfulfilled commitments to regeneration.

Rethinking Politics

It is time to break the bubble that distorts our perception of a reality where anti-system rebellion is linked to simple discourses from the radical right with their recipes of order on immigration, tax cuts, and deregulation. Society, from a pessimism that ends up punishing those who govern, sees us clinging to a power that escapes from our grasp.

“We are losing credibility at an alarming rate: let us not end up like the Democratic Party in the United States, which still has not found its footing”

We are losing credibility at a rapid pace. It is time to conceive and debate a hopeful response, from the left, to the challenges posed by the crisis of democracy and the climate of political tension, widening inequality, and the uncertainties of a world with planetary-scale trials and phenomena. Let us not repeat the fate of the Democratic Party in the United States, which still has not found its footing.

Moreover, we face a communication problem of our ideological program in the era of digital platforms, misinformation, AI, and lying as the main political weapon. With them, and without stringent regulation, the authoritarian right and the ultras deepen public apathy, the disengagement of youth, and they capture the votes of the most dissatisfies. They have already succeeded in making a growing portion of young people unafraid of dictatorship. Because they do not know, have not lived it, have not heard in school that there is no freedom and justice without democracy. It is time to make decisions. And we are late.