• Socialist leader seeks to bolster support for ‘progressive, reformist’ pact •
As sniping between between Socialist party (PSOE) and anti-austerity party Podemos leadership continues over PSOE’s reformist pact with centre-right party Ciudadanos (C’s), PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez has called on the party rank-and-file to vote Saturday to approve the accord over the objections of some old-guard PSOE “barons” displeased with the accord’s pledge to do away with the provincial legislative assemblies known as Diputaciones.
In a video appeal released Thursday, Sánchez called on PSOE members to vote in favor of the PSOE-C’s accord even as some party leaders in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and other regions with large, non-urban voter bases criticized the pact over its pledge to do away with the costly non-elected provincial assemblies that govern infrastructure, public works and generate thousands of jobs in small towns and rural areas.
Podemos leaders meanwhile continue their opposition to the PSOE-C’s accord, releasing a document stating their Eight Reasons why Podemos will Vote ‘No’ on Sánchez, to which PSOE responded with its own Podemos’ Eight Non-Reasons document, attacking the anti-austerity party and calling the reformist pact the best bet for ensuring Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy is not returned to power.
► Read More in Spanish at El Mundo and El País …
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