The PSOE executive is unanimous in rejecting an early election.

Faces of circumstance and spirits on the ground. This time there were no kisses, hugs, laughter, or applause, as is customary, when Pedro Sánchez arrived yesterday at the Ramón Rubial room, on the ground floor of the Ferraz headquarters, to meet with the PSOE executive for the first time since the abrupt departure of its last organization secretary, Santos Cerdán. The same long faces were seen among the members of the executive at the end of the meeting, which lasted almost five hours. A true reflection of the seriousness of the moment.

Sánchez spoke before and after the members of the executive branch—five ministers among them—presented their views on the crisis that has the PSOE on edge due to the alleged corruption scandal attributed to José Luis Ábalos and Santos Cerdán.

Executive leaders confirmed to La Vanguardia that there was "unanimity" in rejecting an early election, as some socialist sectors are calling for. Sánchez also ruled out the idea of ​​a "super election Sunday" to coincide with the municipal, regional, and general elections in May 2027. Every date with the polls, he assured, will happen when it's due.

The president expressed his anger at Ábalos, as the former minister not only leaves in tatters the banner of the fight against corruption with which he came to power in Moncloa in 2018, but also the feminist affiliation of the PSOE, with the "crude" nature of some of his messages with Koldo García, now revealed. "They disgust me!" Sánchez exclaimed.

The Prime Minister accelerates Ábalos's expulsion for his sexist comments: "They disgust me!"

A circumstance that the executive branch took advantage of to agree to Ábalos's "definitive expulsion" from the party, immediately closing the case opened against him more than a year ago, when he was suspended from membership. "His comments about women alone justify his expulsion," Sánchez's team argues, despite acknowledging that this sweeping decision goes far beyond what the PSOE statutes dictate.

While the Ferraz meeting was taking place, everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, because at least Cerdán had finally resigned his seat as a deputy. They had been waiting for him since Friday, with growing fear that he might seek refuge in the special jurisdiction. The last secretary of the organization also requested his resignation as a party member, as Sánchez demanded on Thursday, which prevented Ferraz from having to open a case against him. Ábalos and Cerdán are now, thus, out of the party.

Regarding the organization's finances, now under suspicion, Sánchez learned that Ferraz already commissions an external audit of its accounts every year, in addition to that of the Court of Auditors. However, this time, it will add a second external audit. There will be three in total, to remove any shadow of doubt.

Sánchez, however, opted not to yet appoint a replacement for Cerdán as the party's organizational secretary and number three. Instead, he appointed three members of the executive committee—Cristina Narbona, Borja Cabezón, and Montse Mínguez—on an interim basis, with technical assistance from the manager of Ferraz, Ana María Fuentes, to fill the gap. Cerdán's replacement will be appointed at the federal committee that the PSOE will hold on July 5 in Madrid, not in Seville as planned to promote María Jesús Montero's candidacy in Andalusia.

Sánchez rules out a "super Sunday" with regional and local general elections in May 2027.

Sánchez also announced that he will appear before Congress to explain the scandal "at the first available date," and that he will also launch a new parliamentary commission of inquiry into the matter.

And, to take the temperature of the legislature's partners and allies in the face of this crisis, he will open a round of contacts with the investiture groups. He did so yesterday afternoon with Yolanda Díaz. Today it's the turn of Junts and ERC.