Ferraz endorses Bielsa to preside over the Valencia Provincial Council after the internal clash with Ximo Puig
Many in the PSOE were surprised by the speed of Carlos Fernández Bielsa to run as a candidate to preside over the Valencia Provincial Council, when not even today the party has guaranteed control of the provincial institution. The general secretary of the party in the province of Valencia, however, took the step in full internal clash with the regional leadership of Ximo Puig, which was enervated by the proposal of some lists of 23-J made to measure for Bielsa. As a backdrop was, in fact, the succession war.
Ferraz ended up disavowing Puig by endorsing a large part of Bielsa's lists and now he ratifies it again, confirming him as a candidate to lead the Provincial Council. The Commission of Lists of the Federal Executive of the PSOE has now supported his candidacy, with which Bielsa has a free hand to try to choose to preside over the Provincial Council, and above all, to place himself in an unbeatable position for the succession race.
In fact, in the party it is taken for granted that Bielsa is waiting for his moment to make the leap to the regional leadership of the Valencian PSOE, from which Puig is not moving at the moment despite losing the Generalitat on 28-M. Hence, the Provincial Council can become its best platform, since it is the only great institution that the PSOE can have left to act as a counterpower to the Generalitat of Carlos Mazón.
Sources from the Bielsa environment have confirmed this Wednesday that “the federal body also fully supports, and without changes, the proposal of 12 provincial deputies and deputies approved unanimously by both the executive and the provincial committee”. “A decision adopted at the proposal of the general secretary in coordination with the regional directorates”, these sources have underlined.
According to Bielsa, “the decision adopted by Ferraz strengthens the party in the objective of achieving a stable and progressive government in the Valencia Provincial Council for the next legislature”. The provincial leader, in fact, is pending Ens Uneix, Jorge Rodríguez's party that the PSOE removed when he was arrested in the framework of the Alquería operation, a case from which he has recently been acquitted. With its only deputy, this party can give the presidency of the Provincial Council to the PSOE or the PP.
Bielsa himself has shown himself “very optimistic” on Wednesday regarding the negotiations with Ens Uneix to agree on a “stable and lasting” government in a “strong and solvent” provincial corporation that follows the path started in 2015. To questions from journalists after an informative breakfast, Bielsa has defended that “a progress agreement is possible in which everything that unites us is shared: municipalism, support for smaller municipalities or the commitment to equality “.
“Logically, we have full confidence in reaching an agreement for a stable and lasting government that will give continuity to the management of progress in the Provincial Council since 2015”, he stated, and recalled that it was first chaired by Jorge Rodríguez -during his time in the PSOE- and later by the socialist Toni Gaspar. Rodríguez, however, has already said that he does not intend to give his former teammates a blank check.