One day after the regional elections in Extremadura, where the PSOE plummeted to 18 seats—its worst result amid a PP victory reliant on Vox—Miguel Ángel Gallardo has resigned as the party's secretary general. Former leader Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra urged abstention in PP candidate María Guardiola's investiture to limit Vox's role, while national leader Pedro Sánchez blamed a 'dirty war' by PP and Vox.
In a PSOE regional executive meeting in Mérida on December 22, Gallardo announced his resignation, decided the night after the election results. Despite the defeat—losing 10 seats and over 106,000 votes from 2023—the outgoing leader, facing trial for alleged favoritism involving Pedro Sánchez's brother, plans to take up his elected deputy seat in the Assembly, citing campaign commitments.
Rodríguez Ibarra, attending the meeting, proposed PSOE abstention to enable Guardiola's 'strong government' without Vox impositions, positioning the party as a 'party of state' and paving the way for renewal ahead of 2029. He suggested potential pacts on health, dependency, and education. This contrasts with Ferraz's strategy of highlighting PP-Vox tensions to undermine the government.
At the federal level, Sánchez accused PP and Vox of 'dehumanizing' Gallardo via 'dirty war' tactics, linking the loss to voter shifts without addressing internal issues like corruption probes or harassment allegations. Local impacts were severe: Gallardo lost in his hometown of Villanueva de la Serena, Vox surpassed PSOE in Badajoz city, and figures like Antonio Rodríguez Osuna and José María Vergeles failed to win seats.
Ferraz will install a caretaker committee until a regional congress, amid criticism of Gallardo's imposed candidacy.
