Spain: the PSOE assesses "governing alone", an unthinkable option a few days ago

There is evidence that the strategy of Pedro Sánchez in front of PSOE He succeeded, that is, even if he did not get the majority, he has three options to form a government. And it was stated himself in the second presidential debate: try to govern with politicians independent of politics, but with enough legitimacy to carry out training without the contribution of any other party. It turns out that a week ago, when he said it, very few believed it possible, not even in socialism.

The other two are in sight. One, he offered Pablo Iglesias before and after the day of the election, which is the formation of a coalition of the leftwhat it would mean for United We can make a qualitative leap in terms of political accountability. Also marking a before and after, Sanchez thanked Iglesias for his party's contribution to governance, supporting a large number of initiatives that the PSOE has presented to Congress. However, he never said that he would accept this proposal because he did not know how much he might need his support.

The other would, in principle, be scrapped. It would be a coalition between the PSOE and the citizens, to which Albert Rivera strongly opposed each time he had the opportunity, seeking to consolidate as leader of the opposition. However, Sanchez was not closed to this possibility, not even yesterday after his militancy, wrapped in victory, shouted at the doors of the party headquarters "with Rivera no, with Rivera no". "I will not put sanitary cords as the citizens did with the PSOE, the only condition will be to respect the constitution," he replied magnanimously in front of the millions of Spaniards who saw their first words after the victory.

Sánchez is remarkably cautious in front of the powerful Spanish establishmentwhich fears a left-wing government that plunges an already paralyzed economy with an unemployment rate of 14.7%, pending political definitions. He is in no hurry to make decisions. Clearly, he seeks the definition of other actors before starting to negotiate and pursues a short-term goal that he does not intend to ignore, such as the election of MEPs on May 26, where he wants to strengthen the victory he won. Yesterday

The first thing Sánchez must erase is that his government will not last four years, as most of the right think, convinced that it is a transitional government that will implode soon.

On the contrary, The leader of the PSOE is convinced that they are given the conditions to stay not only four years, but eight years., filling a new political cycle in Spanish history, in which socialism will again be at the center of the table, as it has not happened since the last decade.

"Rule alone"Carmen Calvo, vice-president of the government, and Cristina Narbona, elected senator, elected senator, is today a possible utopia, not so much for the number of seats obtained by socialism as for the number of seats won by socialism. collapse suffered by the PP under his leadership of Pablo Casado, who got fewer seats than ever in his history. Moreover, because Vox was not the inevitable political phenomenon that they believed themselves and could be diluted as soon as possible.

Casado's strategic error was to believe in the smoke generated by Santiago Abascal on the support he would get, which led the PP to adopt far-right positions that he does not believe closely, leaving the center space right in Ciudadanos, 200,000 votes to grab second place, behind the PSOE.

"Being the rudder of a ship that must take its course", as today declared the vice president on the radio, the dream of a socialism that regained the centrality and was becoming a progressive and pro-European beacon was unimaginable a few days ago.

It is still too early to know if Sanchez can do it or not. At least, He had time to think about it. The way you can manage it is the key to knowing your future. If you take more time than necessary, you can list them. And if you trust too much, you can plant yourself directly.

Sanchez used the ten months that the government had put in place by an unreported motion of censure in which he was in agreement with the pro-independence party to campaign, squandering the budget that Mariano Rajoy had balanced at the price of $ 25,000. a brutal adjustment. Now, the leader of the PSOE must think like the president who has never been at all, baduming the responsibility of the government to remove Spain from the risk of recession and to put it on the path of growth in which the PP government had placed it.

Standing at the center and being moderate was the key to his good performance in elections that I would have preferred to give a little later and avoiding a debate that would jeopardize the political capital that he has built diligently. But there was no debate, but two. He has succeeded and now has the luxury of managing time while preparing for the European elections, whose leaders have begun to salute him.

As if that was not enough, he had good news. That Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí, the three accused fugitives for having been convicted of violation of the Constitution by declaring the unilateral independence of Catalonia on October 27, 2017, can not be candidates to the European elections Electoral Commission General.

The resource was presented by the PP and the citizens, but it solves a serious problem of positioning of Spain vis-à-vis the European Union and the world. This is not enough for a party that will turn 140 in a few days as was stated at the last minute at a press conference of the party's general secretary, José Luis Avalos, "stopped the reactionary wave that strikes the other European democracies".