1997 PSOE federal party congress


The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party held its 34th federal congress in Madrid from 20 to 22 June 1997, to renovate its governing bodies—including the post of secretary-general, which amounted to that of party leader—and establish the party platform and policy until the next congress.
Felipe González, who had led the PSOE since 1974 and had been prime minister of Spain between 1982 and 1996, announced in the first day of congress that he would not be seeking re-election as party leader, a move that caught everyone by surprise. This move was seen as a way to facilitate the party's renovation, but also to put an end to tensions over the continuity of his former colleague and now rival, deputy secretary-general Alfonso Guerra, who was forced to step down as a result.
Amid fears of an internal struggle over party succession, with possible contenders including former public works minister Josep Borrell, regional party leaders and González himself backed former several times minister Joaquín Almunia as the latter's replacement. Almunia would be elected unopposed as new secretary-general, securing 74.7% of the delegate vote in the congress for his executive, with 25.3% casting blank ballots.

Background

Initially scheduled for 1998, the leadership of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party announced that it would hold the party's congress one year earlier, in June 1997, in order to better organize themselves as the opposition to the incumbent government of the People's Party under prime minister José María Aznar.
The congress had been initially expected to focus on the continuity of deputy secretary-general Alfonso Guerra—whose support had dwindled internally—in the party's executive, as well as various proposals to renovate the party's image and structure. González's leadership of the party was not in question, despite his previous plans in 1995 to renounce as its prime ministerial candidate ahead of the 1996 Spanish general election in favour of then-foreign affairs minister Javier Solana—a plan thwarted by Solana's election as NATO secretary-general in December 1995—and González's own announcement in May 1997 that he did not wish to run for the post of prime minister again. Overall, it was assumed that González would remain at the helm of the party's transition towards its renovation.
As the congress date came closer, the political focus centered on Guerra's position, with a majority of PSOE regional leaders pushing for his removal. Guerra himself threatened to entrench himself in the post with the support of party delegates, while denouncing a "conspiracy" against him. Tensions rose further when, in the week preceding the congress, the PSOE leadership dared Guerra to challenge González's list. In the hours previous to the congress' start, it emerged that González would be addressing the process for his succession in his opening remarks in order to move the focus from the internal struggle around Guerra's future.

Candidates

Declined

The individuals in this section were the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy, but publicly denied or recanted interest in running:

Opinion polls

Poll results are listed in the tables below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first, and using the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If such date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the candidate's colour. In the instance of a tie, the figures with the highest percentages are shaded.

Delegate estimations

González's allies were estimated as having the support of about 80% of elected delegated to the congress, whereas the pro-Guerra faction was attributed between less than 20% and no more than 25%.