The photo of the popular group of the , enlarged with some senators, in which they applaud standing, is the triumph that Alberto Núñez Feijóo has taken from his failed investiture. The leader of the PP took it for granted, despite not getting the presidency. He himself confessed that his aim was to remind the Spanish that he had won the elections. The photo reflects the muscle of 152 deputies, an absolute majority in the Senate and power in 13 of the 17 autonomies. Feijóo’s other intention, less avowed, was to gain credit in his own party. His interventions seemed to reassure all sectors, hard and moderate. Especially the first ones, who have been trying to write the script for him since he took over the leadership. The failed investiture has also served Feijóo to better face the two possible scenarios: electoral repeat or his debut as head of the opposition, which will seek to underline the instability of a new executive of Pedro Sánchez.
The harshness of the popular candidate against Sánchez because of the amnesty filled those who, led by José María Aznar and Isabel Díaz Ayuso, demand a tough hand, aggressive language and not a hint of weakness. Thanks to Vox, no concessions on co-official languages ??or on Catalonia’s “fit” in the Spanish State. Feijóo stuck to the script with the amnesty defined as the biggest political attack on democracy and Sánchez as the “immoral” socialist who sells the country for power. If the negotiations between the PSOE and Junts do not bear fruit and elections are repeated in January, Feijóo will have half his campaign done.
Once this preamble was assumed, the candidate showed his most multifaceted facet so as not to scare the moderates of his party, with nods to social democratic programs, appeals to PSOE voters who do not understand Sánchez’s approach to the independence or promises of money in hand to the various autonomies to compete with peripheral nationalisms. But the initial framework was well defined.
However, Feijóo also prepared for the scenario of a Sánchez government endorsed by a myriad of parties even more varied than the one built in the previous legislature. That is, he began to work to pierce an unstable legislature. He put into practice a strategy of division between potential allies. He tried to face ERC and Junts, a not very difficult goal. It was also recreated in the times when CiU was hegemonic and set the tone in Spanish politics. And above all, he went all out when it came to sowing discord between the PNB and the PSOE through Bildu. With fury, even.
Feijóo, who happens to maintain an excellent relationship with Lehendakari Íñigo Urkullu, and who is convinced that in the future he can get along perfectly with the PNB and even with Junts (once the amnesty matter is resolved and normalized the situation in Catalonia), made Aitor Esteban angry. First, he answered both PNB and Bildu. A single replica in which he dealt directly with the proethar formation seconds. And secondly, he happily reminded the j eltzales that they are losing the support of the Basques in favor of Bildu because they stand by Sánchez. Right where it hurts the most.
Again and again, Feijóo reproached the PNB for competing with Bildu for the favors of the PSOE, which defends the amnesty for Carles Puigdemont more than the interests of Euskadi and insisted that this only favors the abertzale left, which he is gaining ground to the point that they could take the presidency from him in a few months. Feijóo assured Esteban that, with him in Moncloa, Euskadi would already have high speed and that he is betraying his voters by supporting a government in which Podemos is present. “Do you want to continue to be Sánchez’s kleenex in the coming years?” he asked.
Feijóo’s message to the Penabists and Junts is summed up in one of his sentences: “When Sánchez doesn’t need them, he will go against you. pay attention to me I am trustworthy”. The difficulty that Sánchez will have in combining the demands of parties that compete in their territories and that diverge ideologically, such as PNB and Bildu on the one hand, and ERC and Junts on the other, is the element to be exploited by the PP in the next legislature, if it sees the light of day.
In this effort to divide the majority that supports Sánchez, Feijóo closed some doors with the PNB, which he hopes to seduce in the future. Esteban reproached him for having come to look for them “in a hurry” and reminded him that building trust with his party is like “a marathon”, a cross-country race that he invited him to run. In other words, the PNB does not rule out reaching an understanding with the PP in the future, but now Feijóo’s position against amnesty and his alliance with Vox are insurmountable obstacles. Despite this promising invitation, Esteban let him know that he hadn’t exactly made many friends yesterday.
Feijóo followed the same tactic with Junts on Tuesday, in the first session. In a wistful start, he glossed over the income that the “fish in the cave” once provided to CiU. He recalled the ideological incompatibility of the Catalan nationalists with a government in which Podemos is present. “There’s nothing CiU left in you, really?”. A question not so much addressed to Miriam Nogueras, exponent of the new Junts party – who replied that CiU no longer exists -, but to those within the party who yearn for a pragmatic turn.
In short, Feijóo left satisfied, but he did not manage to break the corset of his meager alliances (with Vox, Coalició Canària and UPN), insufficient to govern. The first vote was settled with 178 votes against and 172 in favor, a result that will probably be repeated tomorrow in the final round. Once the fiasco of this investiture ends, it will be Pedro Sánchez’s turn. The socialist has spared himself eventual slip-ups by not intervening in this debate. He will not be a slave to his words. At least the recent ones. If he finally fails to reach an agreement with Junts and is forced to hold elections, his argument will be that he did not want to give in to the excessive demands of the pro-independence parties. Defending the amnesty in the parliamentary seat and then taking a distance from it in the campaign was risky.
Even so, Sánchez will have to start explaining his intentions to prevent the PP’s arguments about a cession to pro-independence blackmail from taking root. As soon as he receives the King’s order to attempt the investiture, in less than a week, Sánchez will have to face a certain pedagogy about the amnesty. These are the days you will have time to test with Junts if there is water in the pool.
