The former president of the Government and former secretary general of the PSOE, Felipe González, did not want to delve this Thursday into the internal wound of the PSOE due to the presumed amnesty, but he sent some messages more or less between the lines on the day in which the expulsion of Nicolás Redondo Terreros for, precisely, opposing concessions to the independentists. And from his words one can interpret a discomfort that he has been expressing for weeks.
González stated that “he who is not controversial is that he swallows everything and you understand what that means” and, without reiterating his criticism of the current leadership of his party, he emphasized that “I feel free because I say what I think and responsible because I mean what I say.
He did it in an event in which he was supported by a good part of the Andalusian PP's senior staff, with Juanma Moreno at the head.. The president of the regional Parliament, Jesús Aguirre; The mayor of Seville, José Luis Sanz, and Senator Javier Arenas were some of the illustrious people who did not want to miss the tribute to González that the Chamber of Commerce of Seville and the Ibero-American chambers paid him.
Nothing coincidental, since the Andalusian PP has embraced the former socialist president in its offensive against Pedro Sánchez for the presumed amnesty and territorial concessions to the Catalan independentists and in the face of the ambiguity of Andalusian socialism led by Juan Espadas, also present in a tribute to the which historical socialists such as Alfonso Guerra or José Rodríguez de la Borbolla attended, as well as Manuel Chaves.
The Popular Party has found in the former president of the Government its best striker against Pedro Sánchez in its offensive against the amnesty that the Catalan independentists intend to extract from him in exchange for his support in the investiture. In particular, the Andalusian PP of Juanma Moreno has embraced González and his resounding rejection of concessions to the sovereigntists to highlight the division in the PSOE and in the face of the ambiguity maintained by the Andalusian federation of Juan Espadas.
Felipe González greets a group of socialist supporters before the event in Seville.
Moreno said of him that he is “a leader for life” and “a reference for those of us who understand Spain from moderation and a sense of state”, words not at all coincidental, chosen to contrast the former president with the current leader of the PSOE.
Moreno regretted that he was not heard and expressed his admiration “regardless of political differences.”
“Nicolás Redondo Sr. called for a strike and I never thought about 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, about 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 has 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 something serious, not an opinion”. Reports Efe.
It was Felipe González himself who a week ago opened the PSOE's cannon of thunder by giving voice to the stupor and anger that has been caused in a sector of the party by the predisposition of the leadership to grant an amnesty to the Catalan independence leaders accused and convicted of 1-O.
In an interview on Onda Cero Radio, the former president of the Government was exhaustive and stated that “the Constitution has no room for amnesty or self-determination” while warning that “the foundations of our democracy and coexistence are being attacked.”
He even confessed that it was “costly” for him to vote for his party, the PSOE, in the last general elections.
His sharp criticism marked the path of a good number of historical leaders of the PSOE, equally opposed to the unlimited concessions to the sovereigntists in exchange for the investiture.. Alfonso Guerra -who accompanied him yesterday in Seville-, Ramón Jáuregui, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra and Joaquín Almunia expressed more or less clearly their critical position with the direction of Pedro Sánchez.