Candidate debate highlights deep divisions within Spain¡¯s Socialist Party

On May 21, 187,000 card-holding members will decide whether Susana D¨ªaz, Pedro S¨¢nchez or Patxi L¨®pez get to lead a deeply divided party whose fracture lines were evidenced at the debate, held at party headquarters in Madrid.

The leading candidate in the race, Susana D¨ªaz, who currently serves as the premier of the populous southern Spanish region of Andalusia ¨C traditionally a PSOE power base ¨C laid the blame for the party¡¯s continuing crisis squarely on Pedro S¨¢nchez, who is hoping to get his old job back and recently surprised political analysts by securing enough party endorsements to become the second strongest contender.

Susana, I hope you will acknowledge that abstaining was the worst of all possible decisions

Pedro S¨¢nchez

D¨ªaz, who is focusing on S¨¢nchez as the rival to beat, said that his constant ¡°swerving¡± on the issues while party secretary was the cause of the PSOE¡¯s back-to-back defeats at two general elections held in Spain: one was held on December 20, 2015, when emerging protest parties Podemos and Ciudadanos gained a congressional presence and the Socialists lost 20 deputies, representing their worst electoral result in Spain¡¯s democratic history. A repeat election was held on June 26, 2016 to try to break the deadlock, and the PSOE fared even worse, losing a further five seats.

With Spanish politics in a stalemate and a third election on the horizon, PSOE leaders decided to stop blocking the interim prime minister, Mariano Rajoy of the Popular Party (PP) conservatives, from being reinstated to a new term in office. S¨¢nchez opposed such a move, but his views were overruled and he resigned. The party has been led by a temporary management team ever since.

¡°Pedro, the problem is you,¡± said D¨ªaz on Monday, accusing her rival of lacking a clear project. ¡°I don¡¯t think you are pro-Podemos or pro-Ciudadanos: you are pro-Pedro S¨¢nchez and you do whatever is in your own best interest.¡±

S¨¢nchez, for his part, blamed D¨ªaz for supporting the PSOE¡¯s decision to abstain at Rajoy¡¯s reinstatement vote in Congress, portraying this move as a betrayal that the party grassroots have neither forgiven nor forgotten.

¡°Susana, I hope you will acknowledge that abstaining was the worst of all possible decisions,¡± he told her.

Pedro, the problem is you

Susana D¨ªaz

Besides attacking one another, both nominees also made campaign promises. ¡°If the PSOE, with me at the helm, does not do better at the polls, I will leave; I will not lay the responsibility at anyone else¡¯s feet,¡± said D¨ªaz. And S¨¢nchez announced that ¡°if I am secretary general, my first measure will be to demand the resignation of Mariano Rajoy.¡±

The third candidate in the running, former Basque premier and ex-congressional speaker Patxi L¨®pez, accused both his rivals of helping create a rift within Spain¡¯s socialists, and warned that the PSOE ¡°runs the risk of disappearing¡± if S¨¢nchez and D¨ªaz keep this up.

English version by Susana Urra.