Pedro S¨¢nchez retakes control of Spain¡¯s deeply divided Socialist Party

It was an upset victory over the frontrunner D¨ªaz, who had secured more party endorsements than S¨¢nchez at an earlier party consultation, and who had campaigned on a platform of change from S¨¢nchez¡¯s earlier policies.

The move ends eight months of limbo for the PSOE, which has been under an interim management since early October, when S¨¢nchez resigned as secretary general following a dramatic vote at party headquarters.

With that vote, held as Spain was facing a record third general election if a congressional stalemate was not broken, the party decided it would no longer block Mariano Rajoy, of the conservative Popular Party (PP), from becoming reinstated as prime minister. S¨¢nchez had strongly opposed such a move.

Nothing is ending today; rather, everything is beginning

Pedro S¨¢nchez

¡°Nothing is ending today; instead, everything is beginning,¡± said S¨¢nchez at around 11.30pm on Sunday at party headquarters on Ferraz street, in Madrid. ¡°We are going to uphold our mandate to make the PSOE this country¡¯s leftist party. My commitment remains firm: to unite the party.¡±

S¨¢nchez made a point of addressing ¡°the millions of progressives to let them know that the party of the left is right here.¡±

But while S¨¢nchez may feel vindicated following Sunday¡¯s victory, he now faces the daunting task of patching together a deeply divided party that appears to have lost touch with Spanish society, in view of its dismal results at the last two general elections, when it lost a significant share of votes to Podemos, the new protest party that defines itself as Spain¡¯s true left.

All three candidates posed briefly for the cameras, but the political and personal divisions were clearly on display

There was a great deal of expectation regarding D¨ªaz¡¯s reaction to her defeat. The Andalusian premier had conducted an aggressive campaign that blamed S¨¢nchez for the PSOE¡¯s poor performance at the polls, and her superiority in endorsements had appeared to give her an edge over her rival.

Looking serious, D¨ªaz made a short appearance to thank everyone who voted for her, and said that she and her team were ready to ¡°do our share¡± to push forward ¡°a coherent project.¡±

S¨¢nchez must now patch together a party that appears to have lost touch with Spanish society

All three candidates posed briefly for the cameras, but the political and personal divisions were clearly on display. While S¨¢nchez warmly held hands with Patxi L¨®pez, the former Basque premier who was the third candidate in the running, D¨ªaz quickly pulled hers away.

D¨ªaz and her team were evidently dismayed at the fact that despite their efforts and the enormous internal party crisis, party supporters were making S¨¢nchez their leader again for the second time in three years.

English version by Susana Urra.