Besteiro, PSOE candidate for the Presidency of the Xunta without going to the primaries

2023-10-18 18:01:01

José Ramón Gómez Besteiro, who was general secretary of the PSdeG between 2013 and 2016, will be the socialist candidate for the Presidency of the Xunta as his candidacy is the only one that has gathered the necessary endorsements to compete in the primaries.

Minutes before 12:30 p.m. and accompanied by several socialist activists, Besteiro himself delivered more than 3,000 signatures in person to the PSdeG headquarters, five times more than the minimum required.

For his part, in the absence of official ratification by the party, the other socialist candidate, Manuel Losada from A Coruña, has not gathered the necessary support for his candidacy to be ratified. Applicants had until 3:00 p.m. to register the endorsements.

Thus, the former delegate of the Government in Galicia and current deputy in Congress for the province of Lugo will be the socialist candidate for the Presidency of the Xunta, in the absence of official proclamation by the party, and without the need for the militants have to vote in primaries, reports Ep.

Besteiro confirmed on Monday of last week what was an open secret within the party and announced that he was taking the step forward to compete in the primaries and lead the PSdeG candidacy for the regional elections. He did it in the corridors of the Parliament of Galicia, where that day the debate on the state of autonomy was being held.

All this on the same day in which it emerged that the PSOE had decided to reactivate the primaries. And the internal process, initially called by the PSdeG for September 17, was postponed by the federal leadership “until the holding of the investiture session and the eventual formation of the Government.”

After Besteiro’s intention was confirmed and also in the corridors of the Galician Parliament, but a day later, the former general secretary of the PSdeG and current regional deputy, Gonzalo Caballero, took a step forward. However, five days after running, he announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy “out of loyalty and responsibility” after verifying that the socialist leadership and senior officials of the PSdeG “opt for another candidacy.”

Furthermore, also during his visit to the Pazo do Hórreo to attend the general policy debate, the current leader of the party, Valentín González Formoso, confirmed that he would not participate in the primaries in a statement to the media in which he appeared accompanied by different socialist officials, including Besteiro himself.

José Ramón Gómez Besteiro returned to politics last March with his appointment as a Government delegate after spending seven years away from the media spotlight. The one who was general secretary of the PSdeG between 2013 and 2016 decided to step aside and resign as leader of the party in Galicia after being investigated by Judge Pilar de Lara in relation to several crimes in “Operation Octopus.” Finally, all of them were archived and the magistrate would be removed from the courts.