It was a stumble. The reflection has spread to the PP, which understands what Alberto Núñez Feijóo said about the pardons in an informal meeting with journalists during the Galician campaign, but is angry with its leader, starting with the most representative barons such as the Andalusian Juan Manuel Moreno and Isabel Díaz Ayuso from Madrid.
The possibility of a pardon for Carles Puigdemont if certain conditions are met, including renouncing independence, has been an earthquake within the PP, more because of the circumstances in which they take place than because of the content of the statements . A week before the elections, it is to introduce an element that distorts what everyone agrees was an impeccable campaign that could guarantee the absolute majority of the PP. The shadow of what happened in the general elections once again hovered over Carrer Génova, when everything indicates that the last week before 23-J was disastrous for the expectations that had been created.
However, the fact that Feijóo and Alfonso Rueda are campaigning separately, and that the Galician PP has turned to support the rural world, lead the PP to hope that the consequences of these statements will not lead to an electoral setback. Just yesterday, the president of the PP already stated in an event in Marín, Pontevedra, that “I do not and will not accept” amnesty or pardons for pro-independence people.
To minimize the consequences, the barons of the PP, with Moreno and Ayuso at the head, but also the Valencian Carlos Mazón, came out to support Feijóo, with an argument repeated yesterday by all the leaders of the PP. They all assured that the position of the PP has not changed, neither on pardons, nor on amnesty, nor on the relations of Catalan independence with Russia, which, at the PP’s request, the European Parliament has asked research. For the PP there is “a PSOE campaign” to try to justify its pacts with the pro-independence parties and to grant amnesty to Carles Puigdemont.
The Andalusian president stressed that the leader of the PP “has always categorically refused amnesty and pardon” and that “there is no doubt about that”. Juanma Moreno pointed out that “the only one who has given in to blackmail has been Pedro Sánchez” and that “if Feijóo wanted amnesty and pardon, he would be president of the Government of Spain now”, because that is what the Catalan ex-president. And he added that the leader of the PP “has always categorically refused this”.
“We don’t want amnesty, we don’t want pardons, we don’t want Puigdemont to get away with it after what he did”, clarified Moreno, who was surprised by “the tandem formed by the PSOE and Vox to try to wear down the PP’s options in the Galician elections”. A fact that, in his opinion, demonstrates “the desperation” of the two formations, to the point of agreeing on the sole objective of “bringing down the PP at any cost”.
In similar terms, the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, denied that there is a change in Feijóo’s position regarding pardons or amnesty, and attributed to the PSOE, “that the table of salvation” trying to interpret some words said by the leader of the PP in a way that seeks to justify what Sánchez has done.
In an interview with Telecinco, the president from Madrid emphasized that the PP “has not talked about any kind of pardons” and added that “what is supposed to have said is that a series of situations should occur that do not they are happening”, and pointed directly at the Spanish Government. “What the entire Moncloa synchronized team is trying to do” is to accuse the PP of its pacts to stay in power. Pacts that, he said, represent “pure and hard corruption”.
On a personal note, Ayuso assured that he is not in favor of “any pardon or amnesty for someone who not only has not repented, but would do it again on top of everything”. “No water”, they say.
The Valencian president, Carlos Mazón, also insisted that the position of the PP has not changed and has been and is unanimous: “No to amnesty, no to pardons and no to blackmail”. From here, according to Mazón, “there are some who want to take advantage of the upcoming Galician elections to torpedo everything”.
Despite the fact that the controversy is focusing the campaign, the PP does not want attention to be diverted from other issues and just yesterday announced that it will file a complaint against the State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, for the appointment of his predecessor, Dolores Delgado, a fact that the Supreme Court, in the administrative process, already considered an “abuse of power” and which, in the opinion of the PP, can amount to a crime of prevarication.
