The former president of the Government, Felipe González, was very critical last night of the expulsion from the PSOE of former PSE leader Nicolás Redondo Terreros, and recalled that his father called a general strike against his government "and it never occurred to me to think that this would happen." penalized with expulsion".
In statements to journalists in Seville, after receiving the Ibero-American Torre del Oro Award, a recognition by the Cajasol Foundation and the Sevillian Chamber of Commerce, González stressed that "Nicolás Redondo Sr. made me, called a general strike as a parliamentarian, for the issue of pensions, of the reform, and it never occurred to me to think that this would be penalized with expulsion.
For the former president of the Government, who avoided commenting on his position against the amnesty proposed by the independentists to support the inauguration of Pedro Sánchez, this call for a strike, unlike what happened with Redondo Terreros, "was a serious thing , not an opinion."
He said this after learning that the PSOE had expelled him for "repeated contempt for the acronyms" of this formation, in a decision taken in the Federal Executive last Monday, as socialist sources confirmed to EFE this Thursday.
These same sources point out that Redondo "did not make allegations to defend himself during the process" and emphasize that the eight million socialist voters "deserve respect and also an organization with 140 years of history."
However, Redondo assured EFE that he has learned of his expulsion from the PSOE through the media and has denied that he currently had a file open in the party, since he affirms that the one that was opened for him for appearing alongside the Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, in an institutional event in 2021, was closed.
Socialist sources tell EFE that the PSOE Ethics and Guarantees Commission opened a second file against Redondo weeks ago, without specifying the exact date, and that the Federal Executive decreed his expulsion from the party in its meeting last Monday, after the former leader of the PSE did not present allegations within the period provided for this.
The former president of Extremadura, also a socialist, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra, came out in defense of Redondo by warning that he may have made a mistake, but anyone who thinks that his statements are harming the party is belittling this political force.
In statements to journalists in Madrid, where yesterday he participated in a tribute to the former president of the Senate Juan José Laborda, the former president of Extremadura warned that in people's lives we must balance "the debit and the credit." "Redondo seems to be accused of saying things that harm the party, but to his credit I put that he was general secretary of the socialists of Euskadi when ETA killed and you had to have a lot of courage to be one," he added.
Next, he stressed that the PSOE has 142 years of history and overcame a civil war and a dictatorship. "Is a militant going to harm a party like the PSOE no matter how many statements Nicolás Redondo makes?" And he added: "I don't want the PSOE to appear weak because then some, like the fugitive (referring to Carles Puihdemont), take advantage."
