Madrid Socialist slates cause a stir as national leaders hope for accord

A new internal battle among the Socialists in Madrid is brewing, and with less than four months before the regional elections, many national party officials fear dire consequences. The issue centers on the slate of city council candidates, which was prepared by the executive committee of the Madrid Socialist Party (PSM).

PSM secretary general Tomás Gómez, who is the candidate for regional premier, is engaged in a public war of words with the party's mayoral contender, Jaime Lissavetzky, who claims the list of his running mates was prepared without his input.

Of the 19 contenders, only six are said to be considered Lissavetzky's most trustworthy supporters. The rest are reportedly Gómez confidantes.

"How can we win Madrid if people see that we are divided?" asked one member

While Gómez and Lissavetzky are running for different posts, the dispute over the city council candidates has national party officials on edge.

"What type of campaign can we offer our citizens if we are divided? And how can we tackle the [opposition] Popular Party like this?" asked one member of the Socialist Party's national directorate. There are widespread hopes that the two can resolve their differences.

Lissavetzky, currently the secretary of state for sports, complained to the national committee that "there are some people who are missing" from the current slate and asked for a review.

"When [the party] brought Jaime Lissavetzky to Madrid it was to help us win, not to cause divisions or go against the regional committee," Gómez said.

Lissavetzky said he was hurt by the regional premier candidate's comments. "I don't think that his statements are fair and they bother me because anyone who knows me knows very well that I have had an impeccable position within the PSM," he said. "I came to Madrid to obtain good results - I have no special interests in this whatsoever."

This isn't the first time Gómez and Lissavetzky have been out of tune. The mayoral candidate was one of many officials from the national committee who came out in support of Trinidad Jiménez, when she unsuccessfully ran against Gómez in the party primary last September. Jiménez is now foreign minister. Gómez got on the bad side of many in the national committee by rejecting a request by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to step aside and give Jiménez the opportunity to face Madrid regional premier Esperanza Aguirre, of the PP, who remains a strong favorite to stay in office.

Gómez said that he didn't believe that the national committee would try to change the Madrid city slate, and challenged Lissavetzky to tell him "which candidates he has problems with."

"I will have to explain to him, one by one, why the regional party decided that they were the best candidates, and once I do, I am sure he will understand," said Gómez, a former town mayor.

The six Lissavetzky candidates on the city council slate are Ruth Porta, a regional deputy; Marcos Sanz, one of Lissavetzky's closest aides; Pedro Zerolo, a member of the national committee who supported Jiménez; Julia Martínez-Torales, a close aide to Zerolo; Pedro Santín, secretary general of the Socialist Party committee in Moncloa; and Manuel García-Hierro, secretary general in Villaverde.