The internal war in the Andalusian PSOE over the lists for 17M has erupted in Cádiz. What until a few hours ago was a candidacy pending adjustments has become a direct struggle between the regional leadership and the provincial apparatus, settled with a high-voltage move: the Lists Committee has altered the proposed order and has placed Fernando López Gil as number one, displacing Juan Cornejo to third place.
Cornejo himself, provincial Organization secretary and member of the body, has voted against the modification, evidencing the fracture within the bosom of Gaditan socialism.
From "normality" to the open clash
The decision comes just hours after the leadership headed by the socialist candidate for the Junta, María Jesús Montero, opened the door to "slight modifications" in the lists. Cádiz was the main focus of tension, with clear discrepancies over the leadership of the candidacy.
The initial proposal, promoted by the provincial secretary Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix, placed Juan Cornejo as head of the list. However, the sector aligned with the regional leadership had been making moves for days to strengthen profiles such as that of Fernando López Gil, now number one, or that of Irene García.
A relay with political reading
The rise of López Gil is not minor, it represents a turn in the internal balance of the Cadiz PSOE and a clear signal of control by the Andalusian leadership in a historically complex territory for the party.
Furthermore, the fall of Cornejo to third place weakens the provincial apparatus in the midst of the pre-campaign and leaves damaged the team that had designed the original list.
The move comes on the eve of the Steering Committee that PSOE-A is holding in Cádiz to validate the candidacies. Far from the "democratic normality" that María Jsús Montero celebrated this week, the federation arrives at the meeting with an open conflict and with one of its most important provinces in full internal effervescence.
The unknown now is whether this adjustment will be the last or if the tension in Cadiz anticipates new last-minute changes in other provinces. What is already evident is that the battle for the lists has ceased to be a formality to become the first great political showdown of Andalusian socialism ahead of 17M.