Decisive days for the PP and PSOE

The PP and the PSOE face two vitally important meetings for their future this weekend. They do so from completely opposite positions. While the Popular Party (PP) seeks to consolidate Alberto Núñez Feijóo's leadership in a smooth congress and prepare the party for a possible assault on the Moncloa Palace, as reflected in the latest polls, the Socialists are looking to overcome the technical defeat they have found themselves in since the Cerdán case was revealed. They need a decisive impact to put behind them, if they can, the corruption scandal in which not one, but the last two secretaries of the organization are implicated.

It's no use saying that Cerdán is no longer a member of the PSOE, when until three weeks ago the same leaders now using this argument were voicing their honesty. Nor does it seem sufficient to apologize, when the former number three of the PSOE is already in prison and it is unknown what audio recordings or WhatsApp messages may appear in the coming weeks. Deep changes will be necessary in a party that lost much of its territorial power in the 2023 regional and municipal elections and that until a few days ago was controlled by Cerdán. It was he who intervened to put José Luis Ábalos back on the lists, according to the UCO (Union of the Workers' Union).

The Popular Party hopes for a peaceful congress, while the Socialists seek to break the technical KO.

Following the elections two years ago, Sánchez vowed to regain lost ground and appointed five of his ministers as candidates for the regional elections (Andalusia, Valencia, Aragon, the Canary Islands, and Madrid). He did not go any further at the federal congress last November, where he espoused a clear line of continuity, and now changes must be implemented urgently to stem the flow of unforeseeable consequences for the Socialists.

The PP's weekend at Ifema looks better. The initial fear of some PP leaders that the congress would descend into an internal debate, when the focus should be on the PSOE crisis, has dissipated, and the primaries demanded by Isabel Díaz Ayuso and Alejandro Fernández are now a thing of the past, with no action taken. In the absence of a clear proposal for an alternative to a government, beyond the fierce opposition to Sánchez, the 880 amendments to the political report will be finalized between today and tomorrow, including one from the Catalan PP seeking to halt pacts with pro-independence forces. The goal is to demonstrate unity on a weekend in which both the PP and the PSOE are playing their part in the upcoming elections, whenever they are called.