Far from shying away from the faces of disgust in Madrid DF, the Canary Islands Coalition insists that the Spain of nationalities must be represented in the Congress Table, which will be elected tomorrow in the San Jerónimo race. In communion with the Basque Nationalist Party, the Canarian nationalists yesterday introduced a new and important nuance to their proposal: the inclusion of the PNV in the Table could be accompanied by a stability agreement for the entire legislature, with the formation of a bloc of 172 deputies.
In parallel, the PSOE announced yesterday that its candidate for the presidency of Congress is Francina Armengol (Inca, 1971), former president of the Balearic Islands, Catalan-speaking, staunch defender of federalist postulates and a person well regarded by most of the Catalan political forces. In the most critical moments of the process, Armengol always advocated a political solution to the Catalan crisis. Armengol would defend the amnesty from the presidency of Congress.
Fernando Clavijo Batlle, president of the Government of the Canary Islands and general secretary of the nationalist coalition, yesterday reiterated his commitment to the Basque-Canary Islands axis, in line with what was stated last Sunday in an interview with La Vanguardia. At the conclusion of the religious service for the festival of the Virgin of Candelaria on the island of Tenerife, Clavijo once again proposed that the PNV chair the Congress, or failing that, occupy one of the vice-presidencies of the Table. That last detail is important. “An agreement with the PNV and the Canary Islands Coalition could provide stability to a future government. The axis between the PNV and the Canarian Coalition gives the numbers for stability”, insisted the head of the Canarian Government. Clearer, the water.
Asked about the recipients of his proposal -Popular Party or PSOE-, Clavijo said that his offer is addressed to “whoever wants to pick up the gauntlet.” The Popular Party has already said that it is not collecting it, for fear of losing Vox’s support in tomorrow’s vote. A few days ago, the far-right party publicly announced that its offer of unconditional support to the PP for the configuration of the Roundtable, and later in a possible investiture vote for Alberto Núñez Feijóo, is conditional on “the separatists not entering into The equation”. In Vox’s ideology, the PNV is a separatist group and at some point it has been included in the list of parties that they would like to outlaw. [In these terms Javier Ortega Smith expressed himself in 2019: “When we can, we are going to outlaw them”].
The PP, which has maintained contacts with PNV leaders in recent weeks and has even sent some Morse signals to Waterloo, is tied to Vox. Without the support of the extreme right in tomorrow’s vote, its marker would indicate 137 or 138 votes (counting the Unión del Pueblo Navarro), and with that figure the King cannot be asked for the investiture order. Núñez Feijóo is afraid of being out of the game in the next 24 hours.
The other recipient of the Canarian offer – the PSOE – is studying it. The Socialists’ negotiator, Félix Bolaños, acting Minister of the Presidency, met last Monday with Fernando Clavijo, who at this time expresses, unequivocally, the position of the PNV, whose leaders maintain a sepulchral silence. In the Canary Islands, politics is extroverted and the Virgen de la Candelaria inspires offers of stability. Under the cultural cloak of the Society of Jesus, Basque nationalism tends to remain silent in times of turmoil. The PNV will not announce its final position until tomorrow morning, competing in secrecy with Junts.
Until last night, the Socialists were opposed to the inclusion of the PNV in the Table, since one of its objectives is to ensure control of the governing body of Congress, in the company of Sumar. If the Socialists reject the offer of the Basque-Canary Islands consortium, they only have to close a good agreement with Junts, which has opted these days for a mystery film script. Carles Puigdemont wants to make it clear that he has the main key. Canary Coalition only has one key. A gold-plated latchkey.
If the Socialists do not close an agreement with one or the other, neither with the key nor with the latchkey, they run the risk of losing the vote. If they force the situation and fail, Núñez Feijóo would obtain a valuable victory and the country would head towards the repetition of the elections.
It is worth reviewing the numbers. The Congress Bureau is made up of nine members, including its president. If the proposal formulated by the PSOE and headed by Francina Armengol wins the vote, her list would obtain five positions: four for the Socialist Party and one for Sumar. The block on the right would have four: three for the PP and one for Vox. If the PSOE gives up a position and gives entry to the PNV in the Table, even if they do not have the presidency, the Basque nationalists (allied with the Canary Islands Coalition) become the faithful of the balance. The most delicate decisions of the Congress Table would remain in their hands and the Basque-Canary Islands consortium would become a key piece of the legislature.
The Socialists do not want to lose control of political time in Parliament. They have chosen Francina Armengol, staunch defender of a political solution to the Catalan lawsuit, to attract Junts and pacify ERC. Will that Mediterranean figurehead be enough?
Junts and the PNV will speak tomorrow morning.
