In this second political life that he faces after all the accusations imposed on him by a judge evaporated, to which despite knowing himself innocent he chose to remain silent and leave the scene of his own free will for seven years, José Ramón Gómez Besteiro (Lugo, 1967) is the socialist candidate to preside over the Xunta.
He was the first deputy to speak entirely in Galician in Congress. Is there much left to normalize the co-official languages in Spain as a whole?
The President of the Government asked me to defend the position of the PSOE. He told me: “Speak how you feel.” My native language is Galician, I translate into Spanish. And I spoke as I felt. I lived it as a historical moment. There is a long way to go, but we have overcome a very big wall. What I never understood is how President Alfonso Rueda, the PP candidate, voted against speaking Galician in Congress in the Galician Parliament. That says a lot about what Rueda and the PP are like.
He won the leadership of Galician socialism in 2013, but three years later he resigned and renounced his candidacy for the Xunta after being accused by a judge of crimes that, seven years later, were archived without any evidence. Was it lawfare?
I don't know if lawfare or something else. What I did experience was an injustice. It is true that saved by the total and absolute belief in my innocence, which serves as an emotional safeguard. But there was a defect in the functioning of justice, because after seven years there was not even a trial. There was obvious judicial dysfunction.
In 2023 he returns to politics, first as a delegate of the Government in Galicia and now as a deputy in Congress and also as a candidate for the Xunta. Does the same Pedro Sánchez Resistance Manual apply?
Yes, I am living proof. I remained silent for seven years, out of respect for what should be the diligent behavior of a socialist militant in the face of an accusation, even if it was not proven because it was impossible, I stood aside, no one had to force me, and that manual of seven years of resistance I applied by heart.
Now it has the objective of evicting the PP from the Xunta after fourteen years of governments and absolute majorities, first with Alberto Núñez Feijóo and now with Alfonso Rueda. Is it a dream or is it feasible?
It is absolutely viable. This possibility of change is beginning to concentrate in the thoughts of Galicians. And that change, which I am convinced is going to occur, will be led by the Socialist Party.
Another challenge is to overcome BNG, which already overtook them in 2020. Do you see yourself in a position to achieve it?
Absolutely. If the vote in the general elections is repeated, if the progressive vote is concentrated as it was concentrated in that process in the Socialist Party, it will undoubtedly be a reality. That vote is becoming concentrated and participation is increasing. The mobilization is slow, but it is going step by step.
Achieving a majority on the left that dislodges the PP faces the added problem of the division between Sumar and Podemos. Will it prevent the left from maximizing electoral results?
Unlike other processes, in this part of the left there will be a more useful vote than we think. And we talk about what happens on the left, but nobody talks about what happens on the right. Feijóo desperately asked Vox not to run, and he is going to run. There are independent options in Ourense, led by Mayor Jácome, who will also compete with the PP electorate. Therefore, it is open, to the right and left. But that will not be the big problem of the left, but mobilization. I want more participation, more mobilization and for the sleeping Galicia with which the PP is playing to obtain good electoral results to wake up and go to vote.
Does former president Feijóo still mobilize the vote for the PP in Galicia?
There is a Feijóo before and another after the general elections of July 23. He planned to come to this campaign as president of the government. But he is not, nor will he be in the next four years, but Pedro Sánchez will be. What does Feijóo have to offer the Galicians from the opposition? His position is much weaker than eight months ago, and the person who will do the most damage is the PP candidate himself, Alfonso Rueda.
Are the amnesty and Pedro Sánchez's pacts with the Catalan independence movement a drag on your electoral expectations?
No, because Galicians have deep common sense. The reality that I encounter every day is not the concern about amnesty yes or no. I accept that there are people who have a different opinion than mine and are against the amnesty, but what they do not understand even in the PP is that they vote against the revaluation of pensions. Not a single Galician understands it, and here there are more than 750,000 who have a pension. It is not the amnesty that will decide your vote.
How do you define Alfonso Rueda's management?
Cowardice, lies, inability and lack of leadership. We have seen it in the recent environmental crisis.
Can the Xunta's management of pellet contamination be compared to that of the Prestige?
It is not the same crisis, but it is the same manual, the same way of operating, with concealment, misinformation and lies. The contamination of the PP's lies is what is going to take its toll on them.
What Galicia proposes?
We have to modernize and promote a different Galicia that, far from looking inward, looks outward and weighs in on Spain. In that new plural Spain that came out of the polls on July 23, which is a more open, more plural and more versatile Spain. Galicia has to play a leading role in the future of Spain.
