Buenos Aires, February 10 (NA) — Former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González reiterated his criticisms of current head of government Pedro Sánchez on Tuesday, stating he will cast a blank vote if the PSOE's candidate remains at the helm of La Moncloa. This came 48 hours after elections in Aragon, where the socialists were defeated by the Popular Party (PP). At the end of a talk at the Ateneo de Madrid, González said that under these circumstances, if Sánchez is the candidate, he will vote 'blank,' he will not campaign for any party nor vote for other options, and he reproached the head of state for his lack of self-criticism following electoral defeats in Extremadura and Aragon. 'I will not vote for any party that is not the PSOE, am I going to campaign for a blank vote? I would have the right, but I will not do it,' González stated, making it clear that he does not want to go against his convictions and that he feels an 'orphanhood of party leadership,' according to Spanish media El País and ABC, as reported by the Argentine News Agency (NA). Just weeks before turning 84, Felipe González once again spoke out harshly against the PSOE of Pedro Sánchez. Faced with the advance of right-wing and far-right formations in the West and Europe, he said: 'This is what is going to happen in Spain, with the path we are on, it cannot be avoided.' In this sense, he attributed the growth of Vox to deficiencies in the management of public services and housing policy, highlighting the need for 'the country to function.' González estimated that some members of the executive recognize as 'obvious' that they promoted Vox to harm the PP and that this strategy has gotten out of their hands. In response to these statements, the socialist spokesperson in Congress, Patxi López, commented: 'It has been a long time since it pained me that Felipe González ceased to be a reference for the PSOE and became one for the right.' Likewise, the government spokesperson, Elma Saiz, said that 'regarding Felipe González, the PSOE is a democratic party and his opinion is just one more,' downplaying the political significance of his announcement of a blank vote and his criticisms of the executive.
