Next to the Prime Minister, there will be "the best electoral assets" of the PSOE, according to Ferraz. And, in addition, they assure that they are the ones who "embody the best socialist management". Pedro Sánchez thus once again deploys almost all of his ministers in the lists for 23-J.
Without big surprises or star signings, given the time and circumstances, the head of the Executive turns to his ministers to head the candidates, as he did in 2019. Once again with the criteria of hierarchy in the Government and the territory of origin of the ministers, in most cases, to place the posters and complete the electoral boards in each community. And also with some internal pulse, as is happening again with the Aragonese federation led by the critic Javier Lambán.
After betting for Meritxell Batet in 2015, and for Margarita Robles in 2016, in the 2019 general elections it was Carmen Calvo who accompanied Sánchez as an electoral ticket for Madrid. The great unknown that remained to be revealed is who would head the Madrid list this time alongside the Prime Minister. By government hierarchy, and excluding the first vice-president, Nadia Calviño - independent and who has never been part of the candidatures -, the best placed was the third vice-president, Teresa Ribera, who in 2019 occupied the fourth position on the list for Madrid And so it will be: Ribera, Minister of Ecological Transition, will occupy the number two spot on the Madrid grid, behind Sánchez.
The Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, will debut in the lists as number three for Madrid, while the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, will occupy the fourth position. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, will also be in the Madrid candidacy. As it already happened in 2019, this is the list that will have the most ministers.
In addition, María Jesús Montero, head of the Treasury and deputy general secretary of the PSOE, will lead the candidacy for Seville; the spokesperson for the Government and Minister of Territorial Policy, Isabel Rodríguez, for Ciudad Real; the head of Health, José Miñones, for A; the Minister of Science, for Valencia; that of Agriculture, Luis Planas, for Córdoba; the Minister of Industry, Héctor Gómez, for Tenerife, and the head of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, will repeat as number one for Cadiz.
As for the Minister of Education, Pilar Alegría, she will head the list for Zaragoza, despite the fact that the still president of Aragon and leader of this federation, Javier Lambán, already leaving after the elections of 28-M, he wanted to make clear his opposition to what he called Ferraz's imposition.
The PSC also confirmed that the president of Congress, former minister Meritxell Batet, will again lead the candidacy for Barcelona, as in 2019. This time she will be accompanied by the two Catalan socialist ministers: the Minister of Culture, Miquel Iceta, and the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez.
The only members of the Executive who will not be included in the lists, besides Calviño, are José Luis Escrivá and Pilar Llop, by their own decision.
In the chapter on returns, four should be highlighted: former vice-president Carmen Calvo will this time headline for Granada; the former deputy general secretary of the PSOE Adriana Lastra will lead the list of Asturias, and the ex-minister and ex-organization secretary of Ferraz José Luis Ábalos will be number two for Valencia. In addition, Antonio Hernando, former congressman and current deputy director of Sánchez's cabinet, will be headliner for Almeria.
The PSOE's federal committee will ratify the candidacies and the electoral program on Saturday. And despite the rush for the electoral advance decided by Sánchez, Ferraz is warned: "The machinery is greased".
