Miguel Ángel Gallardo, new leader of the PSOE in Extremadura: “We have a problem in militancy, there are no young people”

Miguel Ángel Gallardo (Villanueva de la Serena, Badajoz, 49 years old) is the new general secretary of the PSOE of Extremadura. Last weekend he became the third socialist leader to hold this position throughout the history of the regional formation, after Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra and Guillermo Fernández Vara. The current mayor of Villanueva de la Serena and president of the Badajoz Provincial Council beat his colleague Lara Garlito with 55.71% of the votes in the primaries held last Saturday, March 2, which registered an increase of more than ten points in participation with respect to the previous ones. Gallardo identified himself as the candidate of the militancy, compared to his rival, whom he attributed to being the one of the apparatus. From now on, the new leader will have to exercise the opposition from outside the Assembly of Extremadura, since, although he was on the lists for the Autonomous Chamber in the regional elections of May 2023, he did not get a seat. But he considers that it is not relevant that he cannot confront in that scenario with the president of the Junta de Extremadura, the popular María Guardiola, since the head of the regional Executive came to autonomous power without being a deputy in the Assembly either; Gallardo will use the tribune of the Badajoz Provincial Council to make politics.

Ask. Have you had time to analyze the primaries?

Answer. We have done an analysis of the data, but to know our strengths and weaknesses. I said it the other day: until Saturday night each of us wore our team’s shirt, from then on we all wore that of the PSOE of Extremadura.

P. How do you rate the increase in party participation by more than ten points?

R. It is an example of internal democracy. The interest of the militancy is very positive, they knew that they were participating in a historic event that will mark the coming years and will be a project of change against the lying government of María Guardiola.

P. The PP has already addressed you; He has asked for institutional loyalty.

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R. That comes with me, but not only does loyalty come from opposition to the Government, but also the other way around. I will be loyal, but with a constructive opposition, with a PSOE that will always defend the interests of the region.

The new general secretary of the Extremaduran PSOE, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, at the headquarters of his party in Mérida.Jorge Armestar

P. How are you going to get the PSOE of Extremadura to recover the Junta of Extremadura?

R. We are going to rebuild the party with enthusiasm and for this we must carry out a generational change. We have a problem in militancy and that is that there are no young people. Furthermore, as soon as we have the new leadership we will work to gather the spirit of the citizens, we want to know what their emotions are, the aspirations as a society and we will elevate everything to a political conference, with real proposals, to improve employment or industrialization region of. Our objective is for Extremadurans to see that there is a real project in the PSOE.

P. From what he says, he wants a PSOE with many new faces.

R. I want new faces who are willing to take on important responsibilities, with digital capabilities and we analogs must listen to them. We all have to go hand in hand so that Extremaduran society connects. We must fight against the simplistic message of the extreme right.

P. What legacy do you think Guillermo Fernández Vara has left?

R. He has given his all for his land and there is his legacy, with very important projects for Extremadura, with hope for our region. We owe projects such as the Trujillo diamond factory or the Navalmoral de la Mata gigafactory to him. From my perspective, everything good that has happened to this land has come from the socialist governments with Ibarra and Vara. Something very different from what we see with Guardiola’s government where everything is smoke, he has no ambition for the land, he only has it for power.

P. Do you consider that your victory had a provincial factor?

R. I believe that each one has defended his team in the primaries and now everyone is defending the PSOE. In the regional congress that will be held on March 23 and 24, the party will be strengthened, where there will be less talk about provinces, but about a regional project to beat the PP.

P. Will the president of the Government be at that regional congress?

R. I have no doubt that the federal secretary of the PSOE, Pedro Sánchez, will be there.

P. How do you assess the budding amnesty law?

R. I don’t like that we have reached amnesty in this country due to a rupture between Catalonia and Spain. At the moment it is a lesser evil to solve a territorial problem in Spain. But the situation we are in and the amnesty is a consequence, fundamentally, of Rajoy’s policies, who judicialized public life after allowing an illegal referendum and Puigdemont to escape from the country, without the secret services or politics functioning. Without forgetting the deception of Feijóo’s PP. If today the amnesty does not exist with the PP, it is because what it gained from the point of view of votes with the independentists it lost with its Vox partners. The cynicism of the PP, when criticizing what they negotiate in secret, and the tension is what makes citizens perceive politics as politicking.