The PSOE expels Nicolás Redondo for his "repeated contempt for the acronyms" of the party and after speaking out against a possible amnesty

The internal tensions in the PSOE over the decisions that Pedro Sánchez is taking regarding Catalonia and the independence leaders have long been testing the seams of the formation. The negotiation of a possible amnesty is one more chapter, very important, but it adds up and goes on.. And if the seams get tight, they pop. And they have jumped in the case of Nicolás Redondo Terreros. The PSOE leadership has decided to expel the historic trade unionist and socialist leader for “repeated contempt for the PSOE acronym”. A decision that occurs when voices of socialist leaders are raised against a possible amnesty, a rejection that was also expressed by the former secretary general of the Basque socialists.

The decision was made last Monday, at the meeting of the party's Executive, after opening the file a few weeks ago and informing it “several times”, according to official Ferraz sources.. The affected person maintains, however, that he has found out from the press. In the training they consider that the repeated criticism expressed by Redondo Terreros is sufficient reason for his expulsion, after opening a file against him.. He was not the first, since in May 2021 an expulsion file was already opened for him and Joaquín Leguina after appearing with Isabel Díaz Ayuso during an institutional event. Finally, the PSOE backed down and did not expel Redondo Terreros, concluding that no foul was committed.

Feijóo regrets the expulsion of Redondo: “Politicians like him are necessary for Spain”

Now they consider that there is a lack. Reason for expulsion, as eldiario.es has advanced and EL MUNDO has confirmed. The reason? The criticism that in recent times the former secretary general of the Basque socialists has leveled at the political decisions and initiatives of Pedro Sánchez, especially those related to the relationship and concessions to the independentists. “Eight million voters deserve respect, and also an organization with 140 years of history,” sources from the socialist leadership explain to this newspaper.”

The expulsion, state official PSOE sources, occurs after opening that file and that Redondo Terreros has not made allegations to defend himself during these days, according to Ferraz. The former general secretary of the party in the Basque Country, on the other hand, has reported that he has found out through the media and that he was “not aware” of any other file beyond the one that was opened in 2021 for participating with Joaquín Leguina in an event with the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.

In recent weeks, Redondo Terreros has been very critical not only of the possible negotiation of “formulas” on an amnesty, as well as of the negotiation that the Government is holding with Carles Puigdemont.

In an interview published last Sunday by the Crónica supplement of EL MUNDO, coincidentally one day before the PSOE Executive decided to expel him, Redondo Terreros criticized the possibility of the PSOE promoting a new amnesty law. “The amnesty of '77 was a founding act of democracy. A national hug. This is the complete opposite. The amnesty of some characters who made a nineteenth-century statement against the system, with the sole purpose of obtaining the necessary votes for this man to achieve the investiture,” he stated.

The former secretary of the Basque socialists has not been the only socialist leader who has publicly spoken out against a possible amnesty. In recent weeks, former leaders such as Felipe González, Alfonso Guerra, Ramón Jáuregui or Joaquín Almunia have joined the criticism of current leaders such as Emiliano García-Page or Javier Lambán. But the only one expelled is Redondo Terreros, who does join Joaquín Leguina, who also had an expulsion file opened in May 2021 for the act with Ayuso, and in his case it did lead to his departure from the formation.

At Ferraz they downplay these criticisms, consider them amortized and rule out that there is an internal wave due to the negotiation and the pact with Junts.. They try to deactivate and minimize internal censorship. They believe that the censorship of voices like González, Guerra or even Page and Lambán were discounted and do not cause tectonic movements in their ranks. Another thing will be the text on the amnesty that can be agreed with the Catalan independentists.

In any case, in the PSOE they describe these criticisms as “discordant voices” and close ranks with Sánchez. “Regardless of the fact that there are dissonant voices or voices that think otherwise, it is obvious that the Executive (Federal of the PSOE) is unanimously behind President Sánchez, encouraging him, helping him, trying to give him all the necessary strength because the task is complex (… ). This is how we feel in the party as a whole,” said this week María Jesús Montero, Minister of Finance and number two in the party.. Even Isabel Rodríguez, spokesperson for the Executive, in line with González's criticism, wanted to emphasize that “now there is another generation” at the head of the PSOE.

But already in mid-August, on the occasion of the PSOE's agreement with the Basque and Catalan independentists to make the socialist Francina Armengol president of Congress, Redondo Terreros criticized that the Executive had allowed itself to be “kidnapped by a fugitive”. “The agreement of all the anti-constitutional parties has worked at the Congress table and will work for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez,” he reflected then.